We Can't Get Along
by AnEmbarrassment
Summary: Second part to 'Let's Get Along! Naruto and Sasuke always fight in class and want nothing to do with each other. When their guardians decide maybe they need more time together the boys are angry, but they hadn't been expecting or ready to live together. Watch Naruto and Sasuke grow up together with awkward parents and try to figure out life with plenty of bickering in between.
1. Can't Get Along

**Hey, this is a kind of spin off from my Kakashi and Iruka story called Let's Get Along. That story is from Kakashi and Iruka's point of view trying to raise two troubling kids together and getting their relationship on the right track. This one is from Sasuke and Naruto's point of view trying to not only avoid killing each other but also trying to figure out life as the grow up.**

"Kakashi we are going to be late. What is Iruka sensei going to think if we don't show up when we are supposed to?" A small raven haired boy walked angrily up the steps of his school with his guardian slowly following. Little Sasuke wasn't in a good mood since he not only had to deal with the dumb blond kid in his class but he also had to have a meeting with the teacher and the blond kid as well. The fact that his guardian Kakashi was being painfully slow as always was not helping his temper.

He made his way to the correct room and waited for Kakashi to catch up. While Kakashi stood in front of him and opened the door Sasuke schooled his features into one of disinterest. He never let that dobe know how easily he got under the Uchiha's skin. His big brother Itachi always said that it was best to deal with unimportant people by pretending they weren't even there.

It was really hard though, as soon as Kakashi moves into the room Sasuke could see the tanned skin and blond spiked up hair of his main annoyance. He took a breath to calm himself as he followed the white haired man into the room and decided to stand by his side. He was hoping this wouldn't take so long that he would need to sit down.

When Sasuke finally looked directly at Naruto he saw the blondes face twisted in a dumb way; Sasuke knew it was just to get under his skin but it worked really well. In retaliation he stuck his tongue out only to have an elbow pushed into his side. He flared at Kakashi who completely ignored him and watched the teacher before him.

Sasuke decided that this was officially the dumbest idea ever. He hated the way the grownups were talking about him as if he weren't even there. What made it worse was that Naruto was just sitting there grimacing with his brows furrowed like a caveman. He shot Naruto an icy glare which only caused Naruto to smirk a bit, and that made Sasuke all the more aggravated with life.

"Hey Iruka I'm cool with that." The blond said rolling his fist into the palm of his other hand to crack his knuckles in a 'threatening' way.

Sasuke hadn't really caught was said but there was no way he was backing down from a challenge. So he pulled a smirk of his own. "Hn. This will be fun."

A feral sounded growl was heard from Naruto but before much could happen Iruka brought all of their attention back to himself. "Absolutely not! That is most definitely not what I had in mind." Kakashi laughed and Iruka glared harshly at him. At times Iruka could get pretty scary. He usually only looked at Kiba and Naruto like that. Before continuing on Iruka-sensei sighed to calm his nerves. "Let's start with trying to figure out why you two constantly pick at each other. Sasuke you can go first."

Before Sasuke could even think of saying anything Naruto mumbled something hateful.1 Sasuke stared at the blonde for a few moments before answering. "For starters he just makes it way to easy." Naruto growled. "Not needing to mention the fact that he's messy, loud, obnoxious, and he's the one that picks the fights." As Naruto steamed silently in his seat Sasuke inwardly patted himself on the back for getting under the feisty blondes skin. He saw it as revenge from earlier when the blond had gotten under his skin.

"It sounds to me like they just need to punch each other to get some of that brand new testosterone out of their systems." Kakashi commented calmly. This was how Kakashi was, sometimes it really irked Sasuke that he was so lax about certain situations but he also respected Kakashi because his methods usually worked in some way or another.

Needless to say Iruka wasn't happy with that comment. Sasuke wasn't blind, he could see that Kakashi was mainly just teasing Iruka. After another quick breathing exercise to keep calm Iruka urged Naruto to go next.

Without a second's hesitation he blurt out, "He's a bastard." Sasuke wasn't really surprised. Iruka started to fuss at Naruto but Kakashi cut in to insist that the idiotic boy let loose. Like he really needed that, Sasuke suddenly wondered which side Kakashi was on.

After a second Naruto continued loudly as always. "Anyways, he thinks he's so great just because he has good grades, and knows how to do everything. He practically acts like a god because everyone loves him even though he's a total di-uh, I mean jerk. Also, he's the one that starts the fight; he calls me names like kitsune." Naruto unconsciously reached up to touch the faint cat like marks on his face. Sasuke never understood why Naruto got riled up when he used that name, but because he did Sasuke was sure to use it when he was completely done with Naruto's crap. You can imagine that was every day. "I'm not gonna just take that!"

With a tentive smile Iruka asked if they could just get along which Naruto and Sasuke both replied promptly with a "no" at once. Kakashi smiled and stood to stretch. "Well, seems like you guys were destined to be best friends."

With a scoff Sasuke rolled his eyes at Kakashi. "Please tell me that was your version of a lame joke."

Kakashi took a dew more seconds to finish his stretches before turning to Sasuke and replying with a dumb smirk. "Nope, I'm as serious as a heart attack." Kakashi sat back down scooting his chair closer to the small desk. Sasuke mentally face palmed at the way his and Naruto's parents stared at each other. "Sometimes when you have a strong reaction to a person, it means you're going to be with that person for a long time, so you might as well become friends and live with it." Kakashi never looked away from Iruka while he spoke, which almost made Sasuke gag. He needed to sit Kakashi down and explain what subtle meant. Naruto watched Iruka intently, he must have figured out something was up; Naruto was a dobe, but he wasn't as clueless as Sasuke would originally have thought.

Naruto then saw that Sasuke was watching him. After a few moments of them staring curiously at each other Naruto closed his eyes as if coming to a decision. "Nope not happening." Iruka and Naruto exchanged looks until Kakashi spoke up. He and Iruka-sensei went back and forth a few times before Kakashi suddenly relayed his idea of making Sasuke and Naruto spend time with each other outside of school.

Immediately Sasuke and Naruto began panicking as they exchanged horrified looks. Iruka suddenly seemed ready to blow his top. Iruka pointed to the door and demanded that the kids find something else to do. Sasuke didn't hesitate walking towards the door. He looked over his shoulder at Kakashi who seemed at ease despite the evil look that Iruka was now turning to look at him with after threatening Naruto. He didn't feel bad for his guardian because he knew he had gotten himself into that mess. So he exited the room completely when he saw the blond getting closer.

After a few seconds of walking down the empty halls it became unbaringly obvious that Naruto wasn't going to go off somewhere else instead of following Sasuke. The echoing of their shoes tapping on the linoleum floors was about to drive Sasuke completely insane. He turned to address the blond but he didn't see him anywhere.

"Hey Sasuke look at this!" Somehow the blond passed him a bit and was standing at a familiar door with his head peeking into the room. It was Sooney's room. No one really liked her since she was especially mean with absolutely no reason to be so. "We could totally pull a prank since she left her door unlocked. It's like she's begging someone to prank her."

With that Naruto slipped into the room. Sasuke wasn't going to actually go in the room but when he heard Naruto messing with something and giggling. He decided just a little peek into the room wouldn't hurt. He slowely opened the door and took a step in when Naruto jumped out at him yelling 'boo!' Sasuke jumped back and glared at the laughing blond in front of him.

Sasuke jumped at Naruto, starting a wrestling match between the two. Sasuke had almost gotten Naruto pinned but Naruto had managed to kick him off so that he landed on his butt. There was a sudden loud noise causing both to freeze. Naruto looked around with wide eyes, Sasuke looked at the books across the room that had randomly fallen over curiously. There was no way that they had caused them to fall. Naruto backed up slowly until his back made contact with a desk. Another bang sounded loudly right behind Naruto.

"Every man for himself!" Naruto bolted from the room with Sasuke following close behind.

"Wait for me Kitsune!"

Without slowing down or even turning Naruto yelled out, "Don't call me that teme!"

There little verbal spat and race ended when they entered Iruka's class room nearly knocking Kakashi over. Sasuke was bent over trying to catch his breath while Naruto rambled on about there being a haunted class room. Sasuke grimaced at the blond and stood up straighter.

"No there isn't you idiot! Don't take off like that! I don't run." He said continuing to pant a bit.

Naruto's eyes widened as he stared Sasuke down, it was uncomfortable to be stared at like that but before Sasuke could tell him to stop he spoke. "So the great Uchiha Sasuke does have a weakness." The smirk that took over Naruto's face made the small Uchiha infuriated.

"As if loser! You're the one that ran away from a pile of books!"

"You ran to!"

"Only because I didn't want to be left in that room! We weren't even supposed to be in there!"

"I didn't force you to go in scardy cat."

"You're so childish!"

"You are a child!"

While the fight continued the boys hadn't heard their guardians set plans, but when Kakashi called for Sasuke to leave he didn't waist a second to get out. He glared at Naruto one finale time before marching out of the room annoyed that Kakashi had to stay behind to wave. He just wanted to go home and forget that Naruto was an actual person he had to deal with. He couldn't understand why Naruto wouldn't just leave him alone like most everyone else did.

"That worked out pretty well, wouldn't you say?" Sasuke glared up at Kakashi and sped up to reach the car first. Once in the car and buckled up he crossed his arms and pouted. When Kakashi finally caught up and started the car Sasuke was relieved that he didn't try talking to him.

**Hey guys, things should pick up in the next chapter.**


	2. Try And Fail

Despite being buttered up to with more canvases and his own little case of cherry tomatoes Sasuke was anything but pleased with his father figure. He glared up at the man with his arms crossed trying his best to look defiant. When Kakashi looked down, his smile never faltering for a minute, Sasuke narrowed his eyes further.

"Sasuke I told you, get your jacket on it's cooler outside than it was yesterday." It wasn't that Sasuke usually acted like this but he really didn't want to go. He turned away so he wouldn't have to look up at Kakashi's smiling face as he refused to move again.

In his mind it wasn't fair; He didn't cause the fights, he didn't search out Naruto and tease him, it was all the blonde's fault. It wasn't fair that the adults had decided for him and Naruto to spend a day together even after making it clear that they didn't like each other. It just wasn't fair and Sasuke didn't understand why Kakashi was so happy to punish him.

"Sasuke, hey look at me." At the sound of Kakashi's soothing voice the raven gave in and looked up with a frown. "Don't pout, this isn't me trying to be a meanie. I just really want you and Naruto to start getting along, and Iruka wants that to. Maybe we can all get along, do you think?" It was a nice thought but seemingly impossible if Naruto was involved. Sasuke nodded slowly anyways and hated how happy that made Kakashi who handed Sasuke his jacket.

"I don't like Naruto." The small raven muttered as he slipped on his jacket feeling a tightness in his throat. "I don't want to go Kakashi." When Sasuke looked up again Kakashi sighed and held out his hand for his son to take. He thought about it before he took the offered hand, he liked holding Kakashi's hand but he was getting too old for it.

They walked from the front door and Sasuke waited patiently as Kakashi locked up the house. The white haired man lead them to the vehicle, Sasuke having to all but run to keep up with his tall gardian. When Kakashi started to help him into the high sitting vehicle Sasuke motioned for him to go away, he was sure he could do get in the car at the very least. He wasn't that short and he wasn't so young that he needed to make Kakashi help him so much.

"Sasuke." Kakashi sighed out again as he they buckled up. Kakashi started the vehicle before he spoke again and it made Sasuke nervous. "I really like Iruka, but I know you really don't like Naruto, do you like Iruka?" Sasuke locked eyes with Kakashi's silver ones reflected in the rear-view mirror. He thought for a moment about it, his teacher was really nice and patient and yelled at Naruto a lot. he wasn't too bad. He nodded and waited for Kakashi to continue. "Great, then you don't want to cause trouble for him. That means trying to either get along with his son or at least ignore him. If you can just please try that today, we'll go out for food later or something. Deal?"

Despite still hating today and not being happy with Kakashi Sasuke nodded. He laid his head back and watched outside the window while Kakashi hummed to a song on the radio. He started to think about what it will be like seeing his teacher and the blonde outside of class and frowned again. Deciding he didn't want to think about it for now he looked around the backseat for something else to do. He spotted his headphones and pulled them over to him to find that his phone was attached to them and smiled. The phone wasn't active but Kakashi had put music on it for him. He shoved it in his pocket just in case Kakashi saw it and told him he couldn't take it with.

* * *

Whenever Naruto and Iruka finally got out of the car Naruto felt a small flick to his head as a warning. At the action Naruto stuck out his bottom lip but Iruka was already focused on the other two sitting on the swings. Naruto though Kakashi looked awkward sitting in the swing with his too long limbs and a book in his hand. The book was familiar to Naruto, whenever his Grandpa Jiraiya let him come over he had the same book. He told him that it was a special book for grown ups. As they walked Naruto tried to recall what the special book was called.

"Well we're here, stop reading your porn and let's get started." Iruka leaned down and gave Naruto a smart jab with his elbow and glared down in another warning. The white haired man didn't seem to care though and now Sasuke was up and looking Naruto up and down. At this Naruto bristled already seeing the sarcastic comment coming.

The raven crossed his arms and looked off towards the parked cars. "I'm ready to go home now."

Seeing Sasuke look so nonchalant Naruto decided he needed to find a cool pose as well. He ended up putting his hands on his hips and turning his face away with his nose in the air in what he thought must be a 'better than thou' way. He refocused on the adults though when Kakashi had mentioned going somewhere and walked past them. Iruka looked down to Naruto who only shrugged. Kakashi seemed like he knew some fun stuff to do so Naruto started to follow him until he heard Iruka.

"Where do you think you're going?" The way Iruka said it made it clear that he was talking to both Naruto and Kakashi so the blonde froze and looked up to Kakashi for the same answer. "We're going to your house now; After all I need to know where it is when I come to pick Sasuke up on Wednesday." This was something Naruto hadn't been informed about. He looked over to Sasuke who was walking past everyone to get to the vehicle. There was no way Naruto was about to let the raven beat him to the car, even if it wasn't specifically a race.

For a moment Naruto was thankful for Iruka insisting that he wore his shoes with the ties instead of the easy slip ons as he kicked off to run past his unsuspecting rival. He had bumped shoulders with the raven on accident but it was nice seeing the shock the jostle had given Sasuke. It was nice that is until the look of surprised turned to that of anger and then Naruto was being chased after. Unfortunately Naruto knew that Sasuke was a faster runner, (unless ghosts or long distance was involved) his only hope was to get inside the car.

He felt victorious when he got to the car but deflated when he realized Iruka had locked the doors. "Naruto!" He yelped at the harsh hiss of his name and immediately ran around the car with Sasuke on his heels. A few laps later and the car made a noise and flashed it's lights. Quickly the blonde ripped a door open and climbed in managing to shut the door and push down the lock just as Sasuke grabbed the handle.

"Haha." Naruto mocked when he saw Kakashi give a sharp tug to his son's ear. The blonde was panting and for a few seconds he really did think he was dead but he held up his fist in victory as he caught his breathe.

"Naruto Uzumaki. I told you to try to get along with Sasuke not have him chase you around the car. Don't even try to justify yourself, I saw that shoulder bump." Naruto crossed his and pouted, he knew Iruka was about to rant the entire way home. He tried not to listen and tried not to feel guilty for starting that entire scene. It was Iruka's fault really, of all people he thought his guardian would understand that he couldn't get a long with Sasuke.

* * *

The ride over to Iruka and Naruto's house was just awful. The battery on the music player was running low and Kakashi continued his humming. Sasuke seethed in his seat at the already awful day that he still had to continue at the house of his moron of a classmate.

When Kakashi stopped the car Sasuke immediately jumped from the vehicle; he wasn't in the mood to be around traitor-Kakashi. Iruka unlocked the door him and Naruto who was sure to push his way in first. Sasuke rolled his eyes but allowed it since it was the blonde's house and he wasn't about to seem rude. He still remembered his manors even if he was unbelievably not ok with anyone in this awful situation.

While thinking of his manner's Sasuke was sure to take his shoes off and carefully place them to the side and out of everyone's way. When he saw Naruto's shoes clearly placed without care it struck Sasuke to straighten them. He smirked up at the glare from Naruto. The tanner child turned away and stomped off, and not really knowing what else to do Sasuke followed taking in the beautiful home.

There was an wooden archway leading into a very nice dining room and kitchen with a long table and island and silver appliances. Already Sasuke could see the personality of the home owner and his son in the colorful dishes, silly fridge magnets, and cheesy kitchen wall decorations. When he laid eyes on the frilly apron Sasuke rolled his eyes. It wasn't that he disliked the home feeling he got from the kitchen, but it definitely wasn't how he felt a kitchen should be decorated.

He saw another archway leading into a small living room. Set off at an angle was a plush off white couch with mismatched pillows strewn all over it and a knitted blanket thrown over the back. I front of it and in the adjacent corner was their rather large tv and equally impressive collection of dvds and games. As Sasuke walked further in he saw a long hallway to his right.

He heard the adults coming in from the kitchen so he moved down the hallway. There four doors as he walked, two on either side, and a door at the very end. Sasuke could appreciate the simplicity of the house, he just wished he could enjoy the plushness of the carpet and fresh smell of the house without thinking of the fact that Naruto Uzumaki was the one that lived here. He sighed when he heard Kakashi laughing at something Iruka had said.

"What are you doing creeping around my house?" Sasuke looked up to see the last door on the left was open with Naruto's head peeking out.

"I'm not creeping you idiot. I was looking around. Your a terrible host. Your suppose to be the one showing me around after all. I guess your not even good at that." Naruto stepped completely from his room as Sasuke rolled his eyes again and started to walk away.

"Hey!" Sasuke ignored the call. "Stop, I said stop!" He felt Naruto grab his upper arm and tug. He tried to pull away but it only ended in another tug, then a shove, someone landed against the wall, and then Iruka and Kakashi were there pulling them apart before a real fight could start.

They were both fussed at and told to find something peaceful to do. With the way Naruto looked at Sasuke, he doubted there was going to be any peaceful anything while he was here. Before stomping back into the living room Sasuke was sure to give Kakashi a good glare.

* * *

Iruka had made it sound easy, just sit and talk and don't fight. Easy. But Sasuke never made anything easy for Naruto. They had tried playing video games which lead to screaming about cheating and which games were better. They tried board games, Sasuke beat Naruto too many times for it to be fair. They even tried coloring and it that had lead to Sasuke demanding that Naruto stop. Apparently he was 'coloring like a two year old.' Finally they had settled for sitting in the kitchen and not speaking to each other. By not speaking, they meant whispering the occasional insult at each other when they met eye contact.

"Really three hours is a bit too much." Naruto glared at Sasuke but nodded. He really didn't think Iruka would allow this to carry on for so long. They didn't have people over for a reason; Iruka didn't like people getting too close to him. It had taken him over a month to allow Kiba to come over.

"What can't handle all the fun happening here?" Somehow Naruto could feel the argument building up. They had been too quiet for too long in each other's presence. Sasuke's eyes snapped to his and it made Naruto feel like fighting back despite there being nothing to fight.

"As if a nobody like you could entertain me. You're a joke." Just like that Naruto felt his insides snap. The last thing he would put up with was being called a joke, he wasn't a nobody. He wasn't a waste of life and he would be damned if Uchiha Sasuke said anything like that to him without some repercussions. he jumped up and walked around the table to Sasuke and grabbed his collar, pulling him from his seat. The raven smirked and rose an eyebrow. "Did I strike a nerve?"

"Shut up!" Naruto felt only a bit embarrassed that he had ended up spitting on Sasuke's face at his words. "At least I am fun, everything that you do 'for fun' is so dull it hurts. I don't know why you think your so great your just depressed emo!"

In a flash Naruot found himself shover back and then shoved once more before he could react and then pressed up against the fridge. He growled and clawed at the pale hands gripping his shirt. Both jumped at the sudden loud clatter sound across the floor. They both turned to see what was an old bread box shattered to the floor. Naruto knew it wasn't anything special but he easily saw the opening to blame this on the Uchiha.

"Way to go asshole! There goes everything!" Sasuke turned back to him with just as much anger as before but Naruto didn't even flinch.

Sasuke leaned in with a snarl. "Like I meant to do that, this wouldn't have happened if you could control your mouth once in a while."

At this Naruto gave a false smile and grabbed at Sasuke's collar as he spoke. "Me? What about you? You could use a little work on control there yourself buddy. That temper of yours is gonna get you in big trouble one day." Sasuke pulled back and Naruto wasn't under any misunderstanding that He was about to get punched in the face. He scrunched his face up and tried to ready himself for the impact but nothing came of it.

"That is quite enough for today. I believe there is something that needs to be said here." Hearing the deep voice of Sasuke's parent Naruto slowly opened his eyes and looked up. Kakashi had a firm grip around Sasuke's fist and was pulling the raven away. When pale hands released him Naruto let go as well only to have Iruka pinch his ear in punishment. Of course Iruka would punish him for almost getting punched.

"What the hell was that banging noise?" Just as Naruto had thought Iruka was completely chill about that of all things being broken. "Ok, that is perfectly fine, but what cause you guys to go off now?" At this Naruto glanced over at Sasuke only to see him with his head down and hair over his face.

Naruto jerked his ear out of Iruka's loosened grasp. "Sasuke lost his temper, he was being touchy like always!" Iruka glared at him warningly but didn't grab at his ear again which Naruto was very much thankful for. He didn't know why Sasuke seemed so quiet now, he was almost never quiet like this. Normally he would have been just as loud defending himself.

"Sasuke, do you want to tell me your side of the story?" A fiery bubble of anger formed in Naruto's stomach at the much more gentle voice that Iruka was using for Sasuke. He even went to crouch in front of him as if he were the one that was about to get punched.

Finally Sasuke looked up at Iruka. The blonde crossed his arms in a huff, Iruka was his parent shouldn't he believe in his son more than some spoilt brat. "He called me a depressed emo."

Naruto grumbled, he should have known Sasuke wouldn't have given the entire story. Suddenly Naruto realized that Kakashi was beside him and he glared fiercely. "What did he say to you?"

That through Naruto off his game. He figured he was all alone now that Iruka was team Sasuke. He sighed, he didn't know who was getting blamed for what at this point. "He said I was a nobody, a joke." Repeating them out loud sort of made the anger burn out into a touch of sadness. he didn't want to show that though so he inched away from Kakashi and avoided looking at anyone.

After a moment Iruka stood up drawing everyone's eyes. He was rubbing his temples, Naruto wondered if he had a headache. It made him panic a little, Iruka was never one to mess with when a headache was involved. "Listen up both of you." Naruto flinched, definitely a headache. "For now on you have two more rules. No name calling and no yelling. We already established that you will not get into fights with each other; that mean's physical ones Mr. Uchiha." Iruka glared at Sasuke who seemed to shrink. For once Naruto felt a bit of Empathy for Sasuke, Iruka was both terrifying and good at pointing out wrong doings. "Since both of you will be spending Saturdays and Wednesday afternoons together, we hope you will eventually learn to get along."

At this Naruto blanked out. He really hoped Iruka was just being dramatic or rash or whatever it was Iruka said it was. He did not want to spend time with this kid. Out of everyone, Sasuke was the last person. Even the new kid Gaara was better and he was sure Gaara was pretty mean to everyone.

"Do I make myself clear?" Immediately Naruto nodded. He wasn't exactly sure what Iruka had said but he got the basic meaning behind the rant.

Across the room Naruto could see that Sasuke seemed a but unfocused as well. Naruto hoped he felt bad for causing this fight and getting them in trouble. As he thought that though Naruto felt just a touch of guilt, he knew he was part of that fight. Still, Sasuke almost punched him and Iruka has always told Naruto that physical fights were not the way to settle differences.

"Anyways, I believe apologies are in order. Better make 'em good." Naruto could respect Kakashi's easy going attitude but really his smile was starting to grate on his nerve.

Before Naruto could even decide if Kakashi was even worth listening to he felt a swat to the back of his head. "Fine alright!" Naruto rubbed the back of his head and looked up to Sasuke. Instantly Naruto had to bight his tongue at the small smirk that he was sure only he could see. Taking a deep breath Naruto decided to just get it over with. "You're not an emotional emo. I shouldn't have said it and I'm sorry." The smirk grew and Naruto could feel his fingernails biting into his palm as he clenched his fists.

It almost earned Kakashi brownie points with Naruto when he saw Sasuke stumble from being dead legged by his guardian. "I shouldn't have touched you I apologize." Naruto almost felt jipped. Sasuke's apology was so short and spoken so quickly! Naruto huffed again as the adults moved to the entrance hall leaving the younger two in the kitchen.

It was weirdly quiet and Sasuke was still looking down at the ground with his hair covering his face. Naruto openly stared at the raven feeling unafraid of him in this weird mood he was in. Easily Naruto decided that this was weirder than them fighting, he would rather the fighting than this. When he leaned over to peek into the entrance hall he frowned at the flustered Iruka and smiley Kakashi. He couldn't tell if he like Kakashi but something about the scene made him like Kakashi a little less.

Finally Kakashi called for Sasuke and they both got dressed and left. When Iruka just stood there in his own world Naruto decided to speak up. "Iruka, he is so weird." Naruto couldn't decide he was referring.

The brunette shook from his thoughts and sighed. "Not as weird as his dad, or guardian, or whatever." Iruka looked thoughtful again as he tried to recall.

The rumors with Sasuke were everywhere, Naruto had even heard some of the bigger kids talking about him. "His parents were killed and Kakashi was a relative. At school kids say he watched his family get murdered when he was really young or something. I think that's why everyone seems to like him so much, it's out of pity." With that Naruto was done, he just wanted to find food and enjoy the rest of the day. No more Sasuke, he turned and walked off leaving a seemingly stunned Iruka behind him.

"Naruto." The blonde stopped when Iruka caught him nearly out of the kitchen. "Don't don't talk about things like that, and don't ever call him that again. It really upset him kinda like how it upsets you to be called nothing." At that Naruto faltered. He nodded and walked away again, this time not stopping until he made it to his messy room and plopped onto his bed. He hated how good Iruka was at making him feel bad for things.

**Yes! I did it, I actually wrote a chapter for this! Imagine that! I hope this is good. I'm glad people were interested in this. The whole reason I wanted to write this is because I kept thinking about what the kids were doing while Iruka and Kakashi were doing their thing and it seemed like a waste to actually plot things out and never get to them. hopefully I can actually start showing the difference in plot next chapter. Thanks for reading and please review.**


	3. Close To Home

**Hey, I tried hard on this chapter and made it longer than usual since it's been a while since I've updated. I'm hoping nex chapter is a lot more light hearted but I hope you enjoy please review!**

**Also, be aware that this does have talk about the death of Sasuke's parents. Nothing graphic but it's in there.**

* * *

It was normal for Kiba to talk Naruto into some pretty stupid things especially if it involved pranking some of the meaner teachers and students. After grade school Naruto had calmed down quite a bit compared to how wild and out of hand he was before and it made it easier to make the hand full of friends that he had now. For the most part Kiba was his best friend and that gave him the luxury of hanging out with Kiba's other friends; giving the blonde the feeling of acceptance that he hadn't experienced often in past experience with his classmates. The brunette had discovered that not only was Naruto pretty good at getting out of rough situations, but he actually had some pretty good ideas and with a bit of tweeking Kiba figured they were the perfect team. That was how their friendship started and it was what Naruto always said was the glue that kept them together despite both having fiery tempers and loud demanding personalities.

Of course there were down falls to being friends. They were never allowed to sit or work together in class, people tended to get annoyed by their obnoxious laughing and joking, and they honestly fought about almost everything. Their fights were not in the way that Sasuke and Naruto fought, but that Kiba wasn't afraid to all but break Naruto's fingers over food or trip the blonde as they approached a girl they both thought was cute. There were plenty of times that they had broke out into a wrestling match and nearly get killed because they broke something or bumped into Sasuke in the process. In more cases than Naruto cared to think about they would end up causing Sasuke to reach his breaking point only for Kiba to bail and leave Naruto to deal with Sasuke's wrath all on his own.

It was still difficult to make friends, even with Kiba's table accepting him, but Naruto made sure to never give up. After all if he could make friends with an idiot like Kiba he was pretty sure he could probably make other friends. For his well being he hoped he made other friends anyways, he really needed to find someone that didn't help him create tragedies. He already counted Sakura as a friend even if she seemed nearly disgusted by his very presence; she at least talked to him and helped him with homework, that's more than what she use to do. It seemed natural since she seemed to always be around Sasuke who was literally forced into always being around Naruto. The blonde almost didn't mind since he had a crush on the girl, which Kiba was always sure to point out was obvious enough for the entire school to know about it.

"Naruto, seriously. Please, do it. I'll give you five dollars if you do it." This is one of those times when Naruto actually doubted the legitimacy of their friendship. He looked over at Sakura who watched on looking extremely concerned but she didn't say anything. "Dude, it will be the funniest thing I've ever seen." Naruto rolled his eyes; Kiba always said that when he tried to get Naruto to make an ass of himself.

"Naruto." The three that were standing in front of the school building turned to see Sasuke walking out the front doors. "Let's go." Naruto felt himself deflate in a mixture of relief from getting out of the bet and anger at being demanded to leave his friend. It wasn't often he got to see them since Sakura never agreed to hang out with him unless Sasuke was involved and Kiba is almost always busy doing other things.

"Whoa, hold up there. Naruto was just about to make a fool of himself for the entertainment of us all." At that Sasuke turned a scrutinizing gaze on Naruto and sighed with a roll of his eye. Since last year when their parent's forced them into visiting days it's been hard for the two boys to admit it but it was getting easier to be in each others presence. They still fought everyday and every conversation was a bicker match but they got in trouble less for screaming at each other from across the room.

The look was most probably meant to make Naruto not want to do the bet but because Sasuke disproved of it he felt a whole new wave of determination. "Yeah, actually I think I might. It seems like a funny prank." Kiba howled in excitement and handed him the five dollar bill he had been waving around.

"Idiot, I know we don't get the worlds biggest allowance but I'm sure if you needed money Iruka would give it to you. You don't have to sell your body for this dog's entertainment." Kiba glared sharply but smiled to Naruto encouragingly.

Even though everything about what Sasuke had been saying pissed Naruto off he just smiled brightly before turning and walking over to a tree and climbing up to hide in a large amount of leaves. He really hoped he didn't fall out and break something, or get himself another detention. The bet had been to jump out at someone and scare them, which did seem harmless until Naruto started thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Worse case scenario he kills someone and it gets back to Iruka. One thing he and Sasuke have come to agree on is that Iruka can be terrifying.

The blond peered through the leaves to see Sakura trying to pat Sasuke's arm and getting swatted away. Kiba laughed at the scene but it made Naruto feel a painful pull in his stomach of anger and what he recently realized was jealousy. To Naruto Sakura was very pretty and extremely intelligent and he felt that Sasuke should treat her like the gem that the blonde saw her as. He had admitted to Sasuke that he liked Sakura and tried to point out how perfect she was but Sasuke wouldn't hear anything of it and would only describe her as 'that loud pink haired girl'.

Quickly he shook those thoughts away and instead prepared to fight with Sasuke over it later for the millionth time. He needed to focus on the task at hand and hope that everything went smoothly and painlessly. Who was someone that he could easily spook without nearly killing himself in the process; he scanned the walk ways, with students shooting the breeze or heading home, looking for his victim. He saw a group of athletes and decided definitely not; he had learned to never mess with someone that could easily outrun and then beat the shit out of two or three years younger than them, perfect.

As the small girl skipped down the side walk and got closer Naruto position himself on the lowest branch and did his best to stay out of immediate site. Just when the girl got about a foot and a half from directly under him he slung himself backwards and was sure to keep his legs hooked around the branch to keep himself attached to the branch. As he came down he let out a roar and threw his hands out as if to grab the little girl. From his upside down view he saw the girl drop her bags and stare wide eyed and frozen, petrified to the spot. Then she started crying, shit.

From back towards the front steps of the school Naruto could hear Kiba laughing and hooting, somehow being louder than the screeching little girl. Quickly Naruto untangled himself and dropped down in front of the little girl and tried to shush her but she seemed to just cry harder. He knelt down and grabbed her hand which quieted her a little bit but there were still huge tears coming from her eyes as she looked up at him. The last time the blonde had felt so bad for a prank was when it ended up in him landing on Rock Lee and hurting the kid's ankle. Lee was pretty cool about it but it didn't stop everyone for yelling at him and pointing out that Lee would have been fine if it weren't for him; thankfully his ankle was just sprained and healed up perfectly in a week.

"Hey hey, I'm sorry. You were scared? That was a dumby thing of me to do wasn't it?" The small bleach blonde girl nodded and hiccuped. It was working though so Naruto gave her a shy smile. "That's okay, I'm a big dumby. Will you forgive a big dumby that feels really bad about what he did?" The little girl's tears were almost cleared up but she was still pouting and wiping at her eyes. Naruto really did feel bad and felt a bit squirmy like he usually did when someone was crying. "Hey, My name's Naruto Uzumaki. What's yours?"

"Naruto?" She asked in a small voice to which Naruto gave a small nod. "Then is that your brother?" She pointed past them and towards the three that were walking towards them. Naruto felt himself glare when he realized the little girl was pointing at Sasuke.

"Oh, no. Definitely not kid."

"Sissy says Naruto Uzumaki lives with Sasuke Uchiha. Doesn't that mean your family?" Naruto honestly couldn't believe what this little kid was saying. How could a small elementary school student know about Sasuke's and his arrangement? He went through a list of people that may have known about that, the list wasn't very big but he still couldn't think of anyone right off hand.

The girl was watching him expectantly so Naruto fumbled around for an answer. "No, that isn't necessarily how it goes."

"Haven't you done enough damage let's go you moron." The blonde looked up into Sasuke's neutral looking expression and stuck his tongue out. He didn't bother looking to see if Sasuke would return it, he usually didn't while around classmates.

Kiba laughed and leaned down to smile brightly at the little girl who leaned away making a strange face. "That was really mean Naruto, picking on a defenseless little girl. How evil." He continued through chuckles.

"Shut up you ass hole! Your the one that brought up doing it! Besides she's fine now!" Naruto looked back to the little girl to make sure that she was in fact alright and didn't still look like she was about to cry. There weren't any tears that he could see, instead she looked like she was watching Sasuke closely and sending side glares to Kiba.

"You guys fight like me and sissy do. See you _are_ brothers." The little girl said almost happily pointing up at Sasuke who blinked at her in surprise.

"No, I already said we aren't."

The girl put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. "Then why are you always together? Sissy says you guys spend bunches of time together."

"Well our parents really want us to get along so we try to. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't." Sasuke scoffed at that and Naruto couldn't help but agree with him.

"Oh, so your parents are dating?" The little girl asked in a giggly voice.

"No!" Both Sasuke and Naruto said sharply together. "Listen kid, I don't know who your sister is but she has the wrong information and you shouldn't listen to rumors as crazy as that!" Naruto ranted getting loud with frustration. The girl pouted and looked ready to cry again. "No, no, I'm sorry it's okay. It's okay I promise."

"Way to go Naruto you went and upset Ino's sister." Sakura commented crossing her arms in disapproval.

"What? Your Ino's little sister? Listen, I'm sorry! Remember I'm a dumby. Remember?" The little girl started to look less like she was about to cry again and Naruto felt the slightest touch of relief until he heard someone yell his name from behind him. From past experiences he could already tell who it was and felt betrayed when the others moved away to clear a path straight to him.

"What the hell are you doing with my little sister?" There was a sharp pain in Naruto's left shoulder as Ino dug her nails in and yanked him back and onto the ground. Ino scooped the small girl up into her arms and pushed back any stray hairs from her face. "Did this knuckle head hurt you? Should I hit him?" The long haired girl shook her fist threateningly at Naruto.

"No he's a dumby, it's okay." Everyone laughed including Sasuke who shook his head at Naruto as he picked himself up.

"Sasuke let's go." Naruto mumbled when he finally got himself back up and grabbed his bag from Kiba. Sasuke seemed to have no problem with that seeing as he immediately turned from the group and headed towards the hill that lead down to the grade school. Naruto waved to Kiba as he chased after Sasuke. When he caught up with the raven they remind silent, both caught up in their own thoughts. Naruto wasn't so sure if he was grateful for the unusual silence.

One of the things that have become normal with the arrangement was that their parents spent a lot of time together as well. That was obvious though; it made since that if the kids spent time together the parents would end up doing the same. What wasn't necessarily normal was that on occasion Naruto and Sasuke would see small touches that were very obviously meant to portray special feelings for each other, even if it seemed like Iruka was pushing Kakashi away more than anything. Naruto had already been given the talk about loving who you love and understood that Iruka liked to be with males instead of females. He didn't know if Sasuke knew about that stuff though and didn't know what kind of people Kakashi liked. He also wasn't sure how he felt about Iruka seeing anyone, especially Kakashi Hatake.

Naruto snuck a glance over at Sasuke when he held the entrance door to the grade school open for the him. He let himself wondered what it would mean for them if their parents were dating. Would that mean they would move in officially? Does that mean they are a family? Are he and Sasuke really brothers after all? It was starting to mess with the blonde's head so he decided to shut down the thoughts as best he could.

"Iruka!" He called out when they finally made it to his dad's class room. Unfortunately he felt himself wince when Iruka looked up from his work and nodded to the two, it seemed like shutting his brain up about things was difficult when the origin of those thoughts was sitting right in front of him. Naruto headed straight for his old seat and tried to push the thoughts further from his brain and instead think about the weekend coming or the fresh notebooks he had at home just begging to be written in.

They had managed a whole three minutes of close to unbearable silence before Iruka spoke up again sounding exasperated despite them being calm and quiet like he always asked them to be. "Alright, I bite. What's going on guys?" Naruto lifted his head to look at his guardian feeling flustered again. He looked over to Sasuke and they met eyes. He could see that he wasn't the only one that felt uncomfortable, he wondered if Sasuke had been thinking of the same things. "Did something happen at school, or have you guys finally become civil?"

Before the blonde could think of anything to say Sasuke scoffed and pulled out his headphones. "Naruto is freaked out because a little girl asked him if I was his brother." The little bit of a side glance and a smirk told Naruto that he was completely wrong in thinking that he and Sasuke had been worrying about the same things. It was weird though he was sure that Sasuke had been acting differently and even looked a little disturbed.

"Don't stop there you idiot! Tell him the rest of the story!" Sasuke fully turned his attention to Naruto and it eased some of the conflicting feelings he had before since it was so easy for the raven to make him angry to the point of only being able to think of the situation. It was obvious Sasuke wasn't going to finish the story so Naruto gathered up his energy and huffed out a sigh. "She said that her older sister, Ino, told her that we sometimes live together." He started turning back to Iruka at the front of the class room which brought back a dull ache of the conflicted feelings that the anger had eased. "When I told her that it wasn't true she asked why Sasuke was with me all the time. So I told her it's because our parents want us to get along. Then she asked if it was because our parents were dating."

The room got quiet again. One of those buzzing quiets that are far too loud, full of too much energy and possibility. Naruto really wasn't sure what he was hoping for; he didn't know which answer would surprise him more. Iruka seemed to set into a daze of thought and it made Naruto squirm impatiently. It was almost painful sitting there in the silence so Naruto was almost thankful when Sasuke spoke up, almost.

"Long story short Naruto went off about it, then Ino showed up. That's when Naruto got threatened by a girl." There wasn't a teasing smile on his face when he said it but it still hit in all the wrong places and made the blonde's blood rush in his ears with embarrassment and refreshed anger. He knew if he caused a big argument right now though Iruka would likely smack him seven ways from Sunday.

"So you guys are all quiet because a little girl asked if you guys were brothers?" It was disappointing that Iruka ignored the last part of the story seeing as it was what was really bothering Naruto. He looked over to Sasuke again to gauge his reaction and was almost shocked to see that he had turned to see Naruto as well. If Naruto wasn't so worked up he might have waited to actually see what Sasuke's reaction was but instead he turned away and sighed as he laid his head back down on the cool desk. Iruka shook his head and started gathering his papers in a very jerky looking manor that the blonde recognized was because Iruka was uncomfortable with the topic. "Well we should be getting home anyways, you two can wait by the car."

Sluggishly Naruto pulled himself up from his seat and headed out the door with the raven behind him. Sasuke was doing that dumb thing where he walked just a touch faster than Naruto and 'accidentally' bump shoulders as he passes the blonde. After everything in the last thirty minutes Naruto wasn't having it today so he made sure his book bag was zipped and then took off past Sasuke and nearly fell down the small set of stairs leading into the main lobby. "It's not a race idiot!" He heard Sasuke call even though the raven started jogging to try keeping up.

It really bothered Naruto that Sasuke was so good at running despite him never doing anything even remotely looking like exercise. Naruto touched the car first though and whooped loudly as Sasuke pulled up beside him panting heavily. "I hate running." He huffed sounding like he just might die.

Naruto put on a winning smile as Sasuke leaned against the car to catch his breath. "You didn't have to run ya know." That earned a glare but Naruto just laughed. He turned his head to look up at the school and felt the thoughts of Iruka and Kakashi come rushing back making him wince a bit. "Hey Sasuke, do you think they are dating?" Thankfully it seemed like he didn't have to elaborate on who he had been asking about.

At the suddenly serious question Sasuke straightened back up and seemed to furrow his brows in consideration. "I don't know. I think Kakashi wouldn't, we can't afford that."

"What the hell does that mean? It's not like Iruka would demand money from Kakashi! He's a nice guy, unlike Kakashi." There were a lot of times when Naruto would fly off the handle to defend Iruka whether it was needed or not. Most of the times it wasn't needed and each time it wasn't Sasuke was sure to make that clear. He did so then by punching the overly rambunctious blonde in the shoulder. "Ow!"

"That isn't what I meant idiot. We just don't seem to be able to keep people we care about is all." Naruto continued to glare at Sasuke but he understood what that meant. It wasn't the first time Sasuke had said something along those lines and it honestly never registered to Naruto to ask him to go into further explanations. The first time was when Naruto asked him why he didn't talk to anyone; he had said 'I don't want to make friends with people that are going to leave' with an almost broken look on his face. Just like now he seemed to be somewhere in his past as he said it. "Besides, I think I would hate life a lot more if I was stuck with you in a situation like that."

Usually that comment would set off another fight but Naruto really hated how serious the conversation had gotten so instead he tried for a more lighter response. "What the hell Sasuke! I'm great you just are too cold hearted to see that." Sasuke rolled his eyes and shook his head. "What? I am great! One of these days your gonna realize it and be like 'wow, that kid was truly amazing. Man oh man do I ever wish I was nice to that Uzumaki kid.' and then you will live a sad life regretting being mean to me." Sasuke rose an eyebrow at the blonde's antics.

"I am pretty sure you are just going to end up making noodles when you get older, so no that isn't amazing. I am pretty sure I wont ever regret being 'mean' to you. And, I am one-hundred percent sure I will never say 'man oh man' in any normal conversation."

"Yes you will. Eventually you will see I'm awesome and your not." Naruto continued stubbornly crossing his arms and snubbing his nose up dramatically.

Sasuke leaned a bit over him taking the blonde by surprise and causing him to shrink into himself more. "Or maybe you will realize that you are a loser and should stop trying so hard to get attention."

"Shut up!" Naruto snapped finally losing any of the humor that may have been in the somewhat conversation they were having. There were some things that would start a fight without any hesitation and basically calling Naruto an attention whore was definitely one of them.

"Make me." Sasuke growled back.

Seemingly out of no where Iruka popped between them causing both to jump back. "In the car let's go I'm not waiting on you two to settle whatever this is." Naruto went around the car to climb in the back next to Sasuke; Iruka made the passenger seat off limits since the two fought over it too much. They both buckled up and turned to their own windows to avoid arguing in such a small space with Iruka. They had tried that once or twice on really bad days and had found out Iruka was not afraid to pull over and yell at them for an hour straight.

A small sigh escaped Naruto when he heard Iruka's phone go off. As great as driving safety was the blonde just really wanted to get home but there was no way Iruka would so much as turn the car on while he was on the phone with someone. Naruto was a little hungry, a little grumpy, and those notebooks were calling his name for sure. He was nearly in a daydream when he heard the wonderful words 'take out'. Instantly he turned to Sasuke who had also heard the words despite the headphones he seemed to always have in.

"Pizza." He whispered.

"Nah I'm feeling noodles, I deserve it." Naruto answered back.

"You mean after scaring a little girl half to death and then yelling at her. Yeah sure."

Naruto made to defend himself but Sasuke suddenly jerked his head up to watch Iruka intensely. The look he wore was one of barely hidden panic at whatever it must have been that caught the raven's attention so sharply. Naruto was seriously confused, he figured he must have missed something important that Sasuke's sensitive ears must have picked up. "An accident? What kind? Are you alright?" Naruto's eyes widened as he looked up to Iruka and then back to Sasuke whose already pale complexion somehow managed to lose a few shades of color. It was unnerving for the blonde to see Sasuke dig his nails into the upholstery causing his knuckles to turn white from the force and for anything Naruto did to try to grab his attention, or to at least ease the painful looking tension, be ignored.

"Yes he can stay the night but where are you going to be? You should at least come see him." A small nearly inaudible sound came from Sasuke. It sounded almost like a choked back rasp of breath or a shuddering intake of air. Either way it caused Naruto to get a tight feeling in his chest that usually occurred in situations when people were being emotional and he didn't know how to fix it. Slowly the raven lowered his head and curled in on himself and the tight feeling increased in the blonde's chest making him physically wince at the sight.

Feeling panicked Naruto tried to poke at the teen to get a reaction; this wasn't how he was use to seeing the proud and poised person now turned ball. "Hey, Sasuke. It's okay, it sounds like the pervert is fine." There wasn't a response though. Iruka started talking louder but Naruto ignored it as he tried to undo whatever it was that made Sasuke into this ball of fear that Naruto barely recognized. "It's okay, whatever it is I'm sure will be okay." The raven barely bobbed his head in acknowledgement but it was enough for Naruto to feel just a little bit of relief.

"Sasuke are you alright?" Iruka called from the front. Sasuke shook his head 'no', his hair falling into his face even more.

"Let's go get pizza tonight!" Naruto blurted out. Normally he would never give up the chance to argue his way into getting noddles, but this seemed like a serious enough reason to skip the fighting and just let the other have his way. Iruka nodded in agreement and started the car.

Once they got the pizza and had made it home Sasuke had uncurled from his small ball and eaten his portion of food do to the encouragement and nagging from Iruka and Naruto. He hadn't spoken since the phone incident though and Iruka hadn't given any information on what had happened with Kakashi since he wasn't even completely sure what had happened. Naruto did the only thing he could really think to do in such a stressful and confusing situation; he grabbed a notebook and started writing. It only helped a bit though and he kept getting distracted when he looked up and saw Sasuke in the same position he had been in for the last hour: sat up against the wall at the side of the bed with his headphones in and staring distantly at the opposite wall where the window was.

About the seventh time he found himself just watching Sasuke Naruto gave up on any writing subject and instead sat up from his laying position; he wasn't getting past this line anyways. He rolled from his bed and crawled over to the raven sat Indian style and sat in front of him and mimicked the sitting style. He had his homework scattered around him and a few of his sketchbook peeked out from his open book bag to his side. As stealthily as he could the blonde reached over and tried to pull one of the sketch books from the black bag. Just when he thought he had gotten it completely out of the bag and was home free Sasuke smacked the book down to pin it the floor.

"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto tried to hide the fact that he was pleased the raven was speaking again; the silence had been killing him. "It's rude to take things out of people's bags."

"C'mon I showed you my writing. You always draw stuff but never show anyone. I've only seen like ten drawings of yours out of the entire year I've known you." Naruto gave a yank to the book but Sasuke grabbed it away before he could pull it free.

"Just because your overly sharing doesn't mean the rest of the world is." Naruto frowned at him but Sasuke's expression was fairly neutral. He gave another smaller tug to which Sasuke responded by harshly jerking the book from Naruto's grasp.

As Sasuke busied himself tucking the sketchbook back in the bag Naruto reached forward and grabbed the old well used blue notebook hidden under a pile of science notes that Naruto knew Sasuke doodled in during class. He opened it up to see a wonky tree in one corner and what looked like eye practice all over the rest of it. It definitely wasn't Sasuke's best art based off of the few sketches the blonde has managed to take sneak peeks at but it still floored Naruto at how good Sasuke was. he turned to the next page and saw a drawing of one of their teachers, he believed to be Ms. Shizune, with their back turned and pointing up to a clock. Naruto got up and started to back away when he heard the zip on the book bag making it clear that Sasuke would be looking back up any second and he really didn't want to be standing to closely when the raven realized what he was looking through.

A gasp escaped Sasuke when he looked up to see Naruto backing away clumsily as he flipped through the notebook. "Naruto!" Said teen flipped another page quickly and saw a large black bird that honestly spooked him. "Give it back!" Snapped getting to his feet.

Another page. It contained small drawings of different birds in different styles from heavily shaded to being made entirely of polygons. Naruto liked the small round cartoon bird in the corner trying to flap its tiny wings. "Shut up bastard these are funny. I like this bird." When he tilted the book to show which drawing he was referring to Sasuke reached out for the book but Naruto managed to pull it back out of his reach. "You like drawing birds?"

"Stop Naruto seriously." Of course Naruto didn't listen and continued to go through the pages noticing more birds on various pages. In his head he justified doing this by asking himself when the next time would be when he would get to see Sasuke's art? Probably not for an extremely long time after this he guessed. It was already pretty hard to keep out of Sasuke's reach since the raven was so fast but with the book in his hand it was only by pure luck that he was managing to evade the hands grabbing at him and the book.

"Why are you so upset!" Naruto called when Sasuke suddenly lunged at him and leading them into running around the room; it was Naruto's last hope at this point. The raven never answered but instead increased his speed causing Naruto to let out a small squeak of surprise. Naruto hadn't had to evade so much in his entire life. He rolled, managed near back bends, used items to keep Sasuke at bay, it was ridiculous. The only thing in his favor was the abundant amounts of stamina he had and the fact that they both knew that if either ended up with a black eye or cuts they were both in for some hell.

"Naruto I'm going to hit you if you don't stop!" Sasuke yelled when Naruto opened it up on another page where characters from various video games looked up at him in dramatic poses.

It made Naruto laugh and in his hysterics he hadn't seen Sasuke climb up on the bed. "You'll have to catch me first!" He turned in time to see Sasuke launch himself from the bed headed straight for him. He yelled just as the air born teen landed on him. Despite Sasuke being so light Naruto learned that the raven could definitely cause some damage when doing a jumping tackle. "Jumping from the bed like that is cheating!"

"Says who? Now give it back!" Sasuke crawled up Naruto's body reaching for the book but Naruto held it above his head as far as he could and used his free hand to swat away Sasuke's extended arm all while trying his hardest to push the teen on top of him off.

"Never!" He growled giving up on shoving at Sasuke and instead tried his best to wiggle away. It wasn't working for the blonde though and Sasuke almost managed to get a hold of the note book when they both heard angry stomping heading straight for their room. The two locked eyes at the realization that Iruka was coming, and he sounded pissed. "Shit!" Naruto hissed as they both scrambled away to look as casual as possible. Naruto had just manged to sling himself up on to his bed when the door opened.

Unfortunately Iruka was as psychic as always it seemed. "Alright Naruto what did you take from Sasuke?" Naruto groaned but gave in without a fight. He closed the notebook and tossed it over to the glaring boy that was sitting at his window. Of course the notebook fluttered dramatically in as it flew across the room and didn't quite make it to the raven and ended up a mess on the floor making Naruto wince. He hadn't meant it to be a jerk but that's definitely what it made him look like.

Iruka gave Naruto a disapproving look that made the blonde sit up to defend himself. "It's his fault, he left them out! I was just looking at the drawings and he attacked me!" He fussed loudly pointing at Sasuke accusingly.

"I only jumped on him because he started running around with it after I told him to get his nose out of it." Sasuke added in his defense. Naruto stuck his tongue out at him and wasn't too surprised when Sasuke did the same back.

Iruka cut in before anything more gestures could be exchanged between them. "Naruto respect other people's belongings and Sasuke don't jump across the room at people. You could have hurt yourself or Naruto." Sasuke nodded and Naruto rolled his eyes. He hated that Sasuke acted like a perfect child around Iruka when he was definitely not. "It's almost time for you guys to settle in so Naruto help Sasuke pick out some cloths and such.

Both boys dropped their jaws. "What do you mean help him pick out clothing?" Naruto definitely didn't want to share clothing with the person he deemed a rival. He also realized with a glance that his clothing would definitely sag off of the raven.

"Idiot! I don't have a change of clothes with me or anything. That means you're gonna have to lend me something for tomorrow." Naruto narrowed his eyes but got up and started digging through his dresser and closet if only just for show since Iruka was watching expectantly. He heard Iruka call for them to not make a mess as he left.

Naruto shook his head at the cloths he found, not finding anything that he imagined Sasuke would be too thrilled about putting on. "Here, try these on." Naruto tossed a black shirt to Sasuke and a pair of dark jeans that he figured was better than anything else he owned. Much to Naruto's frustration Sasuke caught them without trouble and laid them out so he could undress. When Sasuke pulled on the shirt it was a bit big but the jeans seemed perfectly fine, looser than the normal jean's Sasuke wore, so Naruto shrugged and closed his drawers. "There, done. You can just wear that for tomorrow." The raven looked up in disbelief and then looked back down at the clothing he wore in disgust. "What! It looks fine and those are definitely clean!"

"Yeah, no. I already struggle with the entire school thinking I'm an emo. I don't want them to think I'm an unstylish emo." There was absolutely nothing about the outfit that seemed wrong to Naruto; in fact it was bugging him that even though Sasuke was in fact wearing the blonde's clothing he still looked as good as he usually did. "How about I pick out some clothing."

Not even messing with that Naruto stepped away from his drawers and motioned for Sasuke to go ahead, if Sasuke wanted to be a fashionista he wasn't going to stop him. Iruka never seemed to fuss about what the blonde wore, and no one ever told him he looked bad so Naruto didn't really get where Sasuke was freaking out about his selection of clothes. While he watched Sasuke rummage through the second drawer the blonde thought of the outfits the raven had recently started wearing. He did wear a lot of darker clothing but Naruto didn't think it was necessarily because he was 'emo' or anything, more like it would be weird to see him in bright colors with his dark hair and lighter skin. An image of Sasuke in one of Naruto's favorite orange shirts popped in his head and he quickly shook it away feeling a mixture of scared and weirded out.

When he returned back to the situation at hand he saw Sasuke was going through the second to last drawer and apparently not finding whatever it was he was looking for. "Don't look in the last drawer." It took a lot of control for Naruto not to jump over and throw his body against the dresser to keep Sasuke's curious hands away. He tried not to though since that would give away how much he really didn't want Sasuke to go through that drawer which he was convinced Sasuke would do if he knew how embarrassed the blonde would be.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder and glanced back down at the drawer. "What's in there?" Really Naruto could have said anything. He could have said something that would have made the other teen weirded out enough to not open it or even just said 'pet snake', that would have done the trick. Instead he just stumbled over his words trying to think of any excuse and coming up with absolutely nothing.

"I said don't!" Naruto grabbed at Sasuke's arm who had jerked open the last drawer anyways. "Damn it you asshole." Naruto shoved Sasuke back and kicked the drawer full of toddler toys shut with a loud thwak. He turned on the raven who was grinning and staring at the drawer with raised eyebrows. "Don't. Their from my parents." The anger wasn't entirely because Sasuke his enemy had seen his baby toys that he refused to get rid of, but because he had thought on and off for the last few hours that maybe they had things in common and were getting better. Every time he thought it though things like this would happen and it becomes clear all over again why they have been fighting since they met.

After a long while Sasuke flicked his eyes back up to meet Naruto's embarrassed and upset look. "Were those baby toys? Naruto, do you still play with those?" A small chuckle escaped as Sasuke spoke that hit the blonde like a hammer. He was so embarrassed and unwilling to deal with Sasuke's bull shit.

Despite how often Iruka tells Naruto that violence is never the answer, and despite how much Naruto hates violence, he somehow always finds himself in fights where he threw the first punch, usually those fights were with Sasuke of course, which frustrated to absolute no end. Everything Sasuke did or said was always meant to make him angry and it always succeeded getting under the blonde's skin and getting him roused up. Naruto hadn't exactly thrown a punch this time, just tackled the smirking teen in front of him. They hadn't even hit the ground yet when he felt them turning as Sasuke tried to switch their would have been position. When they finally impacted the ground with a huff of breath Naruto was pretty proud that the had still managed to end up on top.

"Your such a loser." Sasuke hissed as he pushed up with as much of his strength as he could. Naruto was both pretty heavy and pretty strong, which he was thankful for in this situation since it meant that so long as he could get Sasuke to stop squirming enough he could pin the raven and it would all be over.

"Your an asshat!" He yelled back grabbing for a wrist. As strong as he was Sasuke has always been faster in reflex and in calculating ways out of Naruto's grasp. Sasuke had just gotten his knee up and in between them when Naruto felt himself being lifted up.

It wasn't Sasuke kicking him off like he was sure would have happened, instead when he looked up he recognized the white haired man that had a habit of heavily flirting with his parent. Immediately the look on his face told Naruto that with him being on top of Sasuke the situation looked bad for him. So to stop any accusations that may build up against him Naruto again blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Tell Sasuke to mind his own business!"

The raven slowly picked himself up off the ground and glared harshly at the blonde. "That's rich coming from you. You go through my note books all the time." Naruto narrowed his eyes and tightened his fists again but Sasuke just crossed his arms and continued to glare down at the rug.

"Alright enough of that your giving me a headache. As much as I believe you two just need to punch each other and get over yourselves, Iruka doesn't want you two fighting. Honestly you guys shouldn't, you're getting too old for such nonsense." Naruto tucked his hands in his pockets and frowned at the ground in a pout. Bringing up Iruka is always the best way to make Naruto to feel bad for his actions and he hated that Kakashi knew that. Sasuke looked away from them and held his arms tightly to himself as if guarding himself from Kakashi's comments. "Now what is this about? It better be good."

Both were silent, not wanting to be the one to admit that they had gotten into a fight over something mostly insignificant, but the piercing grey eyes on them made Naruto feel itchy all over. Finally Naruto gave in with a sighed and spoke clearly but cautiously. "Well, I was trying to find cloths that would fit him since he's such a tooth pick." Sasuke made an annoyed sound at the insult but remained silent for the most part. "He was helping and I told him to stay out of that drawer over there. He ignored me and opened it anyways." Kakashi sent a glance towards the drawer that Naruto had motioned to and then looked at Naruto's blushing face.

"It's not like that! Don't think the worse before you know what it really is!" Naruto looked between Kakashi and Sasuke who had just yelled and was looking red himself. The white haired man rose a single eyebrow as the two stared off.

"So you're gonna tell me that Naruto doesn't have porn in his drawer?" Heat flooded Naruto's face and a very loud shriek forced itself from his mouth. He hid his face in his arm with a groan. He sometimes wondered how Kakashi was a real thing, let a lone how Sasuke has dealt with this man for most of his short life.

"Hn. As much as I would love to say that the idiot has something that embarrassing, he surprisingly doesn't. The reason he didn't want me in that drawer is because it's full of baby toys and other things that he had gotten from his mom and dad before they died." And just like that the heat was gone and instead Naruto felt cold. His arm slowly dropped to his side as he accepted what Sasuke said. The knew of each others basic back story but they never spoke about it and made sure to avoid any subjects that may have to do with their natural families. There was a stinging in Naruto's eyes that felt far too familiar but he didn't want to wipe at his eyes in case it gave away his emotion. He hated that he got so emotional over people he never even got to properly meet. In his frustrated sadness he felt a tap on his foot and then Sasuke's neutral expression appeared beneath him. The raven sat in fron of him in Indian style and looked unsure as he looked for something to say.

"It's not something to get embarrassed about. In fact I have a little bunny that I sleep with at my house. No reason, just do." Just like that the stinging was gone and the picture of what his life could have been if he had parents was swiped away from his thoughts. He stared at Sasuke in a bit of shock for a few moments as the information settled in his head and another image appears in his mind: Sasuke curled up with a giant stuffed rabbit fast asleep, and it was just perfect. He burst out into uncontrollable laughter despite the deadly glare being sent his way.

The blonde fell to the floor in his laughter and was almost tackled by a pissed Sasuke but Kakashi managed to grab him before Sasuke could launch his attack. "I'm sorry! I swear I won't laugh any more. I just can't imagine the great Uchiha Sasuke cuddling a little rabbit to sleep." Sasuke crossed his arms and looked very much like he regretted giving that bit of information to Naruto. "No really though thanks." Naruto smiled brightly at the raven who rolled his eyes with a huff as Kakashi released him.

"Now then are we all set, no more problem? Naruto will try to explain things instead of getting violent, and Sasuke will try to be more sensitive to others' emotions." The boys more or less nodded or grunted their understanding. "Good, now I need to talk to you guys. It's really serious so I'm going to need you two to be serious." Naruto nodded but noticed that the atmosphere switched very suddenly.

When he glanced over to the other teen he saw that Sasuke had straightened and tensed his muscles a little like he had in the car. It made him feel a little unsettled but he tried to remain as optimistic about whatever it was as he could. He remembered how frazzled Iruka sounded on the phone though and it made Naruto's stomach drop. He really hoped it wasn't anything bad, something told him to was though and he hated it.

"Sasuke, something happened to our house. It means we can't go back there anymore."

"What happened?" Sasuke interrupted.

"It was burnt down. Everything is gone, so we don't have anything anymore." Kakashi stated blatantly. It knocked the hair out of Naruto and the world around him went a little surreal. "Iruka has said we can stay here until we figure something out. Since I have to find another place I'm not always going to be around at night. Can you promise to listen to Iruka while I'm gone?" Naruto was thoroughly lost and a bit over whelmed but Sasuke shot off a question immediately as if this information didn't mean a huge change for him.

"They did it didn't they? The ones that killed them, they're back aren't they?" Kakashi's face dropped and he shook his head slightly at the raven. Naruto watched them curiously, still playing catch-up with the situation.

Sasuke of course didn't break eye contact and that apparently was enough of a win for Kakashi to sigh and stand up straighter. "I know everything sucks Sasuke, but let's try to focus on the fact that Iruka and Naruto are sharing their house with us." Sasuke slowly nodded not wanting this conversation to extend any more than it had to. "Good night you two. Get to sleep soon." Naruto nodded but Sasuke turned to stare at the floor while Kakashi slipped from the room.

When Naruto turned back to watch Sasuke the boy turned away briskly and marched over to the bed where his iPod and headphones laid. He popped them into his ears and turned the music up to the point that Naruto could hear the music from where he was still sprawled out in the center of the floor. While the blonde has always been a bit unsure and hesitant around Sasuke, he really hated the idea of approaching the raven while he was upset, after hearing that though he felt that he should say something. At first he tried to talk to him but he remembered the loud music and switched to waving his arms wildly. For a moment Naruto considered just giving Sasuke some space, mainly because he really didn't like the look on the raven's face, but realized that if it had been his house he would have wanted to talk about it. Even if he wouldn't have admitted it.

"Alright enough of that." Naruto got up before he could chicken out and yanked at an earbud bravely, quickly continuing on before Sasuke could yell at him. "What was that Sasuke. What do you mean 'their back' who is back? You kinda freaked me out." Sasuke pursed his lips and averted his eyes but Naruto wouldn't allow him to look away completely. He placed a hand on the teen's shoulder and ignored the jerk of Sasuke's body at the unwelcome touch. "I'm not trying to be mean I want to know if your okay."

The fact that Sasuke hadn't either pushed Naruto away or cursed him to hell and back was enough to tell Naruto that the usually prickly teen was actually considering explaining the situation to him. The blonde sat down next to Sasuke on his bed and turned his body to show that Sasuke had his full and undivided attention, which both knew was a lot coming from the blonde. Finally the raven Sighed in defeat and wiggled around to get comfortable. "The rumors about me watching my family get killed, they aren't completely true, but they aren't completely false either." Naruto felt himself tense in surprise. He hadn't expected this to have to do with families; the one thing that both kept away from each other and respectfully never mentioned. "I have a brother named Itachi. He was the one that ran downstairs when he heard my dad yell out and arrived in time to see mom get hit as well. He was the one that was with them when my parents died."

It was eerie how calm Sasuke sounded as he spoke about such an evil moment in his life and it made Naruto feel like either pulling him into a hug or telling Sasuke that he didn't want to hear anymore. He wouldn't do either though because Sasuke wasn't done yet and he didn't want to turn back and make Sasuke regret opening up this much. Besides wanted to know what happened next, he wanted Sasuke to trust him with this information. So when Sasuke took a few seconds to regather his peace Naruto didn't say anything and waited patiently for the boy to continue.

"I wasn't there. I don't even remember why but I was at my aunts house. She got a phone call and next thing I know she is driving and screaming and crying and I was so confused. When we got to my house there were police and ambulances. She told me to stay in the vehicle but I was so freaked out I just wanted to find my mom so I ignored her and got out of the car and ran up to my house. My mom was laying in a body bag and they were carrying my father out." Sasuke was biting his lip and shaking as he told the story, getting frustrated when his breath would hitch as he fought back tears. It made Naruto's chest tighten to a painful degree and he couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't sit there and watch the memory crash over Sasuke like a ton of bricks.

"Hey, it's ok. You don't have to continue if you don't want to." He scooted closer and placed an arm around Sasuke who still flinched but didn't move away despite the look that told Naruto he wanted to. "I understand, I get it. The person that did that, they weren't found were they?" Despite Sasuke not answering Naruto knew it was true. "Sasuke, they won't get you, they probably hadn't gone to your house specifically to hurt anyone either. Your safe here, me and Iruka will make sure you guys are okay." Sasuke was shaking and his breath was uneven and it made Naruto pull him closer.

"You guys can't promise that." Sasuke mumble in a whisper, a tear falling from his lowered face to land in his lap. "I know it's dumb to think that a robber from so long ago is still out looking for us. I should have grown out of that thought but I keep thinking it could happen."

Quickly Naruto shook his head. "No, it isn't dumb. I would probably think the same. But I'm telling you duckbutt, you're safe here. Have you met Iruka? That guy has like seven locks on the only entrance into the house. Not only that but I don't think any of the windows are even able to be opened, honest I've never seen any of these windows open. If that doesn't seal the deal Iruka has one of those dumb house monitor things that light up every time someone comes into the drive way at night." Slowly Sasuke raised his head but didn't look at Naruto. "Hey, I don't know if he's out there, but if he is. There is no way he could get through Iruka's defenses without risking the possibility of losing a few limbs."

The tears had dried up and his shaking had stopped at some point during Naruto's attempts of cheering Sasuke up, much to Naruto's relief. He sniffed a few times as they sat in silence but Naruto wasn't sure what else to say and he wasn't sure if he was helping. "Iruka is pretty fierce isn't he." Naruto smiled reassuringly and let a few small laughs slip out. "He would also be upset if I didn't have something picked out by the time he makes us sleep." Sasuke shrugged off Naruto's hand and stood up with a stretch like he wasn't just telling Naruto about a very traumatic experience and breaking down. "C'mon idiot, I want a shower and I don't want to get changed back into these clothes so you have to give me something to sleep in to."

"What! Just sleep in your t-shirt! There is no way it's dirty enough for me to give you another one of my shirts!" Despite the curl of Sasuke's lip and the fight that was slowly building Naruto was relieved that Sasuke was back to the way he usually was. Neither mentioned that moment again or acted like they had actually spent more than three minutes talking about something serious like the civil people they were suppose to be. Instead the rest of the night was careless bickering over everything and Iruka yelling at them to shut up and go to sleep. Naruto wouldn't forget though and he even made extra care to beat down his new curiosity about Sasuke's brother just in case that triggered another break down. He did wonder where this 'Itachi' was though and why he wasn't with Sasuke now.


	4. Some Things Change

In all right's Iruka should have become Sasuke's favorite person on the planet. In a normal situation Sasuke wondered if he would have been thankful, if he would have felt a connection, maybe he would have even decided that he liked Iruka as a trusted adult. He couldn't though, not right now and the present was all that really mattered to him. Too many moves, too many temporary moments have taught him that this wouldn't last and he knew it. It didn't matter how much Iruka tried to connect or tried to get on Sasuke's good side, the raven wouldn't budge on this. It had nearly been a week living with his teacher and rival and surprisingly enough he seemed to be the only one with a problem.

Everyone fell into a schedule fairly quickly, they all tended to bicker or get exasperated with each other but the only one that wasn't truly clicking was Sasuke and it often left him feeling alienate and frustrated. Every time Kakashi comes back from work and immediately jumps in to help Iruka with dinner it makes Sasuke feel frustrated. Every time Iruka brings him his laundered clean clothing, that he had helped pick out and buy to replace the ruined wardrobe, Sasuke feels a tightness and frustration tingle at the back of his head. Even when Naruto sleepily mumbles 'goodnight' every night, no matter how much they had fought throughout the day, Sasuke felt himself all but breaking over how everyone was treating this.

He could see their logic, he could see them taking a bad situation and finding the good even if just for their own sanity. No matter how often Sasuke thought he could see the good though, there was always that lingering thought that it was all temporary and therefore useless. He had enough moving around in his life and had learned that it was best to never assume things would last very long. Ever since the incident with his parents, things have changed non-stop and Sasuke wasn't about to allow these people to give him a false sense of security. He didn't even know why they tried, especially Iruka.

Iruka; he was the one that Sasuke especially held resentment for. He hated that Iruka insisted they spend time together and bond over trivial things that would mean nothing in a near future. He hated that it was Iruka's idea to try to give him his own room. He hated that it was Iruka that he saw throughout most of his day instead of Kakashi. At times he hated Iruka for taking up so much of Kakashi's attention and for somehow becoming the center of what all of this was. He just wanted to know why Iruka was doing any of it; There was nothing in it for the teacher and yet he continued to constantly be caring for Sasuke and try to make him 'feel at home', and Sasuke hated that Iruka didn't see how painful he was making it for him. It was fine that they had to move again, Sasuke was used to it and expected it, but now Iruka was making it hurt and continue to become more painful with each and every kind moment he provided for Sasuke.

"Oh I'm sorry Sasuke. I didn't mean to make you finish this all by yourself. I guess I like the sound of my own voice too much." Iruka stretched and closed the book he had been reading aloud from. Despite the whirling thoughts constantly running through his mind about the man Sasuke couldn't bring himself to be unpleasant to the gentle person. He smirked and passed off the paint brush when a tanned hand urged him to, he hoped Iruka really did feel bad. It was the only thing Sasuke could do to get a bit of revenge for all the problems Iruka was causing without actually hurting his teacher.

Iruka, being taller, stretched his arm up and got the portion of the wall that Sasuke couldn't reach himself. They had been painting the room, that Iruka had insisted Sasuke make his own, when Iruka had sat down next to a pile of books and laughed as he picked up one of the paper backs from the pile. He was talking about it and how he had liked to read it as a child and before they knew it he had just started reading it out loud as if it were natural. Sasuke sat down next to the pile as well and figured it was just a teacher thing. Iruka read a lot in class and seemed to always be willing to re-explain things as many times as it took. "I like your voice to." He mumbled before he realized the thought had slipped from his mouth. He quickly grabbed a book and held it in front of his face and prayed that Iruka would stop staring at him. "I like the way you read." Sasuke tried to amend; somehow it still didn't feel like he had fixed it though.

"Why don't you read some while I paint. That's one of my favorite books." Sasuke scrunched his nose up at the thought of reading out loud and also realized that he didn't even know what book he was holding. It sounded like Iruka didn't even expect him to actually read though, he probably thought the suggestion would be thrown out of Sasuke's mind completely. No one knew Sasuke like he knew himself, and so he was very tempted to read just to throw Iruka off. He really didn't like reading out loud though.

Taking in a breath Sasuke decided to just find the first page to see if it was even worth it. "I am not always such a dreamy girl, listening to the sea call me. My father calls me Three-Sided Sophie; one side is dreamy and romantic: one is logical and down-to-earth: and the third side is hardheaded and impulsive." Sasuke took a second to make his voice more confident and clearer, berating himself internally for letting his voice start off with a soft scratch. "He says I am either in dream land, earth-land or mule-land, and if I get the three together I'll be set, though I wonder where I'll be then. If I'm not in dreamland, earth-land, or mule-land, then where will I be?"

While Sasuke read he thought again over why Iruka was being so kind to them when he and Kakashi were obviously causing Iruka more work and new types of stress. Yet there he was, finishing up the painting of Sasuke's new room with a smile on his face, seeming at peace with everything as Sasuke sat and read.

Eventually Kakashi came in and sat with Sasuke. As much as he hated to admit it, when Kakashi asked him about the book he was reading he couldn't help but spew out what he knew of the book like an excited toddler. It wasn't very often that he and Kakashi had time to talk and when they did it was hard for Sasuke to not get over zealous with his words. "So far it's decent enough. It's about a girl named Sophie who wants to be on the sea really badly. So she begs her family to let her go on a sailing trip across the ocean with her uncles and two cousins." Kakashi nodded as Sasuke explained it but Sasuke could tell that it really didn't interest Kakashi too much, but he was being kind and giving all of his attention to his son. He took pity on Kakashi and decided to wrap it up quickly. "It was written by Sharon Creech."

Naruto came in at that point wearing the same pleased look that Iruka had been wearing just a few moments ago. He and Iruka exchanged something that sounded a bit like Iruka fussing but Sasuke just looked down at his book, starting to let his thoughts retake him for the thirtieth time that day when he heard mention of dinner. In the small amount of time that he has lived here he has learned better than to allow a chance at picking food slip by. "Pasta!" He yelled at the same time that Naruto, of course, yelled raman and Kakashi yelled steak. Instantly it was a three-way war that Sasuke suspected Kakashi only participated in to mess with Naruto and himself as they fought.

"We had raman like three days ago!" Sasuke fussed glaring at his blonde rival.

"That's two days too long!"

Kakashi through in a few more lines along with them but Sasuke wasn't listening and it didn't seem like Naruto was either. Eventually Naruto growled and yelled out that the first to the kitchen decided dinner. That was good for Sasuke. Naruto was fast but Sasuke was faster. It didn't worry him to much that Naruto managed to get out of the room before him since by the time they got to the living room it was easy to jump over the couch and land in front of Naruto to get to the kitchen right before the blonde could. They took a second to catch their breaths while Naruto glared at him the entire time.

"Stop that your face will get stuck." Sasuke smirked, he already knew what Naruto was going to say; It was the same thing he always said when he lost.

"You cheated. That was a cheap trick and you know that if Iruka would have been around it wouldn't have worked." He actually pouted at Sasuke, lip out arms crossed and everything. Sasuke snorted at the face and decided to look around to see what they had for dinner. It wasn't his fault that he thought faster than the blonde.

He peeked inside the freezer and saw a bunch of easy oven foods like chicken nuggets, fries, and what not. He was disappointed when there wasn't anything like lasagna or the likes. When he looked into the fridge he took his time to steal a cherry tomato. He let it burst in his mouth as he concentrated on what he wanted.

"Your taking too long, I should just pick so we can actually eat before tomorrow evening." Naruto tried to budge the raven out of the way but Sasuke shoved back and the next thing they knew the rack holding the condiments and cheese on the fridge door had broken and everything fell to the floor. "Oh no." Sasuke nodded in agreeance. Fighting was one thing but they both knew to not break anything unless they wanted the hell spawn Iruka to rein fire down on them.

"It's your fault you know." Naruto clacked his teeth together and shot him a glare. Sasuke put his hands on his hips and glared back. "It is!"

"Not! If you wouldn't have shoved me!"

"You shouldn't have gotten your big head in my way!"

Just as Naruto made a move that seemed to be reaching for Sasuke and the raven decided to return the action they were suddenly jerked away from each other. Sasuke knew better than too struggle too much against Kakashi but Naruto seemed to have no qualm in thrashing to try to free himself from his guardian's grip. "Oh for goodness sake, what could it be this time?" No one answered and Naruto continued his dramatic struggle until his foot slammed down on a tube. Sasuke felt himself freeze as the arch of sticky brown syrup flew through the air to land across Iruka's face in a gooey splatter. "That's it."

From where Sasuke was standing he could see the shiver that went through Naruto at the harsh whisper from their teacher and couldn't help but to feel lucky to not be in the particular position. The brunette bent down and grabbed the ketchup bottle, Sasuke thinking he was going to through it or start cleaning but instead he popped the lid. Naruto mumbled something and then there was red condiment being squirted after a retreating blonde. Sin, Sasuke was sure that this was definitely a sin. There was no way he saw Iruka wasting ketchup for something as stupid as this. Did he not realize the tomatoes that lost their precious lives to that sorry excuse for a paste? Sasuke crossed his arms to show his disgust at the current happenings.

"What you don't think I'll get you to?" When he looked up Iruka was grinning mischievously which very thoroughly threw Sasuke off his game. He hadn't ever seen that look on the brunette's face. _Kakashi._ Sasuke thought in frustration.

Said man appeared next to him looking even more dark and mischievous than Iruka. "He might not but you should now that I would." And just like that Sasuke was covered in yellow mustard. A sound escaped Sasuke as he ran away that he would deny to be a squeak of surprise as he turned away and quickly headed for the makeshift fort that Naruto had made using the table.

Naruto laughed at Sasuke who sat staring at his newly stained clothing with complete disgust and what seemed like complete bewilderment. "Does this happen very often?" The raven finally asked turning to peak over the table as Kakashi and Iruka planned their attack and turning back to the blonde.

Again Naruto laughed but threw a bottle of squeezable mayonnaise to Sasuke with a toothy grin. Sasuke looked down in shock. "Only on days we can't decide what to eat."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at that; leave it to a house hold containing the Uzumaki to settle disagreements with food fights. Despite his thoughts and disgust at everything Sasuke jumped up and flipped the top of the mayonnaise open and squeezed over Naruto's shoulder where Iruka had been sneaking up on them both. Naruto mumbled something that sounding like a 'thanks' and started his own fight with Kakashi.

To Sasuke's pleasure the fight only lasted a few more seconds. The rules had apparently been that if you were hit even a little you lost and were to step down, not counting Sasuke's first mustard encounter seeing as that was just Kakashi's way of forcing Sasuke into playing a long. Iruka ended up sacrificing himself to get Naruto out so it came down to Kakashi and Sasuke. The raven knew he couldn't safely stay where he was less Kakashi do a reckless stunt like he was known for and just jump over to perform an aerial attack.

They knew each other pretty well though and it took a lot of fancy foot work and intense thinking on both parts to avoid each other's attacks. Sasuke had barely spun away from a squirt of ketchup when Kakashi had somehow managed to suddenly appear next to where Sasuke landed and smear a handful of ketchup across Sasuke's chest. "I win." Sasuke glared up at him but eventually blew his hair out of his eyes with a huff and laughed as Iruka cheered happily for his 'team mate'. "We're having steak for dinner!"

After cleaning up the kitchen, which Sasuke decided definitely made the condiment fight completely not worth it, and after dinner Iruka ran to his room yelling about forgetting to print out papers for tomorrow or something of the sort. So it was just Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke in the kitchen putting away any left overs and washing the couple dishes that were left. This also felt a bit too mundane for Sasuke but he was too tired to really focus on anything other than the task of gathering dishes and arranging them in the washer. It was a welcomed relief from his usually thoughts.

He had just managed to completely space out into a place where he didn't have to think about things when he heard Naruto's never ending praddle turn serious. "Kakashi, am I supposed to call you 'dad' or something?" Kakashi's eyes went wide as the man looked down at the young blonde and it made Sasuke roll his eyes.

"Idiot, why would you call Kakashi dad. If anyone's supposed to call Kakashi dad it's me, I live with the man." As he registered what he said Sasuke scrunched his nose. "Although I doubt I would ever call him dad."

Naruto nodded in agreement but still looked confused. "But you do live with him."

"So, you call Iruka by his first name." Naruto nodded again and went back to wiping off the table while Sasuke closed the washer and started the settings.

"Naruto why would you think you needed to call me 'dad'?" Both the boys looked at him and then back to each other. They refused to discuss it normally but both were still unsure as to what any of this really was or how to react to certain things. Ever since that little girls comment it had been kind of tense with the realization that it wasn't just them that that were noticing things that made them seem like a family. Naruto openely looked troubled about things like this everytime it was brought up but Sasuke tried to hide it since bringing it up seemed like a sure fire way to put the thought in Kakashi's mind and then they would be screwed. "Boys?"

Not wanting to get into that mess Sasuke shook his head and decided to find something else to occupy himself with that didn't mean leaving the room since he was still secretly interested in the conversation. Naruto rolled his eyes and sent a glare at Sasuke for ditching the conversation but answered Kakashi's question after a second of trying to put his words in order. "Well, you see. We all live together, and you and Iruka are super close, and I know the Iruka likes boys and you're a boy. Um." Sasuke smirked to himself as the blonde struggled. Serves him right for bringing up a topic that could have just been left alone.

"Hold on, Naruto do you think Iruka and I are dating?" Sasuke stiffened and stopped pretending to straighten random knick-knacks. He had assumed that Kakashi would have side stepped the topic like Iruka had done and then possibly thought it over once he was alone. He watched as the blonde nodded and when Kakashi looked over at him Sasuke found himself nodding as well. "Well, I think Iruka and I may like each other in a dating way but we haven't quite gotten to a place where we are dating per se."

Another silence took over the room, and it was difficult to get through. He hadn't known what he was wanting to hear exactly but somehow Sasuke felt disappointed that there wasn't a definite answer. He wanted to believe that he wished the answer was 'no' and that they would be moving again soon but he also felt disappointed by that as well. Sasuke wrapped his fist around the end of his shirt and tried to not show his frustration at all of this.

"No, Naruto. Even if we were to date you don't need to call me anything other than Kakashi." Kakashi smiled down at Naruto who also seemed to be smiling shyly. Sasuke wanted Kakashi to smile like that more, but he knew it wouldn't last and that made him angry at Iruka all over again. He turned away from them and walked to his room. He couldn't watch Kakashi be so happy when it was all temporary.

* * *

"Sasuke!" Said male jumped when his door was rudely kicked in to reveal a very disheveled Naruto who immediately started ranting about god knows what at top speeds. His hair was even messier than usual and he was wearing one of his older and more worn out shirts. Instead of immediately yelling about the intrusion or the loud noises that were coming out of the blonde's mouth, Sasuke stared as Naruto began to pace in front of him. He didn't feel up to yelling over top of the idiot and he really didn't feel like trying to decipher what was being said. He just didn't have the energy for any of it but especially not at the moment.

"Hey! You aren't listening at all are you? I'm being serious you bastard!" Sasuke just rose an eye brow. Naruto took in a breath to calm himself before he would attempt the rant all over again. Somehow they were learning to communicate through body language which often lead to thankfully longer moments of peace; the longer Naruto kept his trap shut the more peaceful any universe would be in Sasuke's mind. "I'm going crazy. I think I just heard Iruka actually laugh at one of Kakashi's flirts. I mean I know that Iruka likes Kakashi, that much is obvious, but what if Kakashi is just being a flirt and Iruka gets hurt! The man is sensitive he wouldn't be able to handle that! And if they are gonna date then why not tell us? Every time I try to get Iruka to tell me something about it, he completely avoids the topic. I mean if they dated, great, but what would that mean? Would you guys still move out or would you just stay? What if they get married? Will we be brothers?" Naruto made a grossed out face at this that Sasuke glared at it as he tried to remain calm. This was exactly what had been causing him so much turmoil, this is what he was trying to avoid thinking about to save his sanity. "What if you guys live with us forever? What will people say at school? They aren't gay friendly Sasuke!"

"Stop. Just stop." Naruto for once listened but he continued to wear a path in Sasuke's carpet and mess with his hands nervously. "They aren't dating first of all, even Kakashi said so." Naruto stopped like he was thinking of denying that but Sasuke glared him back into pacing. "Secondly, Iruka has no worries when it comes to Kakashi's loyalty. It's Kakashi that should worry. He's head over heels for Iruka yet Iruka continues to push him away since he is obviously not into Kakashi at all. It's only a matter of time before Iruka kicks us out and Kakashi gets a broken heart and goes back to working twenty-four-seven. They aren't going to ever get married, we aren't brothers even if something like that happened, and fuck whatever anyone says. I don't plan on living my life to fulfill someone else's beliefs."

The raven opened his eyes and watched the look of shock on Naruto's face. He didn't know when he closed his eyes, or when he had started yelling but he was panting now and he felt like a weight had lifted from his chest and his head didn't feel submerged in quick sand anymore. After a moment Naruto plopped down in the middle of the floor and looked around the room so Sasuke took that moment to recollect himself and grab his book from the bed and set it back onto his lap. It was quiet for a seemingly long while with just Naruto's fidgeting to ease any of the buzzing that made silences so unbearable.

Sasuke hadn't meant to rant as well, but he was pleased at the ease from the pressure that he hadn't even realized had built up so much as to cause this much relief now that it was gone. "Iruka does like Kakashi, and he likes you to. I think he wants us to be a family but is scared to suddenly jump into something like that." The words Naruto spoke were so clear and made so much sense that it dizzied Sasuke's head as he turned to watch the blonde that was now laying on his back staring up at the ceiling. "He wants you guys to stay, he wants us to get a long, and he wants you to stop pretending to hate him." At that Naruto looked directly at him making Sasuke suddenly feel transparent and ashamed. Sasuke was sure it was just that color of blue that gave Naruto the ability to make him feel so wrong and guilty and not at all that the blonde had figured out Sasuke's actions.

It seemed like he had said enough for one day so Sasuke decided that a return in single worded answers were acceptable. "Whatever." Sasuke hissed turning away.

"Stop it Sasuke. Seriously stop it." Sasuke still didn't look over at him but he heard Naruto get up and could hear his voice getting closer. "Iruka practically worships the ground you walk on and gives you everything he thinks you want or need and you won't even act like you appreciate it!"

"You don't know what you're talking about Naruto." Sasuke warned harshly. He knew the warning didn't have as much sway as it would have if he would have actually said so to Naruto's face but he felt like he was losing himself and didn't want to face Naruto incase the blonde realized how lost he felt.

A sinking in one side of the bed made Sasuke angry, if Naruto was willing to sit on his bed it must have meant that he was serious enough about this to not leave until they were raw at the throat or until Iruka himself came in to tear them apart. He should have known, this had to do with Iruka, the one thing Naruto was deathly serious about. Too bad in Naruto's case just being serious about something didn't mean he knew anything specifically about the topic or about the things pertaining to said topic. He knew that despite that piercing gaze Naruto didn't see what was going on in his mind, so he the blonde didn't see why Sasuke was against Iruka, or that Sasuke didn't dislike Iruka at all. It was difficult.

"You avoid Iruka and only talk to him when you absolutely have to and never without an attitude! I get it with me, I know why you're an ass to me, but Iruka hasn't done shit to you, bro what's your deal?"

"I never asked to come here! Iruka doesn't have to treat me kindly! Just leave, why did you even come in here, this is my room get out!" Sasuke shoved Naruto then, completely impulsive and feeling desperate to get out of the conversation. Naruto fell back and off the bed but had gotten his feet under him in time. "Go!" the raven shoved again at Naruto who was standing at the side of the bed, still too close, staring down at Sasuke.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrists to stop his shoving but only managed to keep one in his grip. Sasuke didn't struggle too much, he already felt childish for shoving Naruto and yelling for him to go but he did tug at his captured wrist every once in a while to portray his feelings towards having his arm restricted. "He's nice cause he really does care, y'know. He's a nice guy that tends to do more than is needed from him but he doesn't usually take shit from people either. Yet here he is dealing with your mood swings and Kakashi. He really likes you guys, and he wants you guys to like him."

Something that had never even registered in Sasuke's mind was the idea that maybe Naruto knew more about Iruka than anyone else, or that maybe Naruto could actually think and word things instead of his usual screeching. Somewhere in the back of the raven's mind he knew there was truth in what Naruto was saying but there was no way in hell he was going to let down his guard just because of a few pretty words. "Fine, I understand." Sasuke turned to look the blonde in the face with the steeliest look he could manage. "But that doesn't suddenly mean I want him to care for me or for them to date. I don't even want to be here." Sasuke gave another tug at his arm and smirked when it was freed.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief; he looked like he wanted to say something else but instead he growled as he walked to the door. "I never said they were going to date." Sasuke nodded as Naruto left the room, slamming the door as he went. He wasn't completely sure why that had happened or what it even was entirely, but he and Naruto had apparently agreed on one thing: Kakashi and Iruka weren't going to date. Hopefully.

* * *

The next few days were a war like no one has ever seen before and no one was ready for it. Sasuke had tried to subdue it while in the presence of others, seeing as it was such sensitive and personal information, and by the gods Naruto for once took a hint and tried to do the same despite his pig headedness at times. Everyone could feel it though and it was obvious when small comments from Naruto sent Sasuke off into bad moods for the rest of day or when they would show up a few seconds late to class with new injuries or limps. Never in front of Iruka or Kakashi though, they didn't argue about these things at home.

At home it was a cold war for the most part and back to childish arguments that meant absolutely nothing. Anything from walking too loudly to blaming the other for something that was lost or misplaced. It was building up the pressure that Sasuke felt in his gut again and it was beginning to affect his thinking once more. The only people he could complain to were Naruto and apparently Gaara who had looked over at him in class and mumbled "Must be difficult" when Naruto had kicked him as he walked by his desk. Sasuke had for unknown reasons began to complain about the blonde to the weird quiet kid and now they sometimes talked; mostly Sasuke about Naruto while the read head listened but Sasuke wasn't about to complain.

"Can you please stop." Small things like how Naruto would occasionally space out during meals and chew with his mouth open making the most disgusting noises. Naruto just glared at him and continued to purposefully chew loudly. "Idiot." That day had been one of their more quiet days, whispering insults as they passed each other but also not acknowledging each other directly, that was until dinner.

"Gross." Naruto mumbled as Sasuke started to take a bite of his food which he had added diced tomatoes to. Sure tomatoes didn't exactly go with macaroni but it wasn't that weird. Every time he went to take a bite Naruto would make some type of disgusted sound.

"Stop!"

"You stop!"

"Why are you such a loser?"

"Why are you such a tomato freak?"

"At least I'm not under some type of delusion!"

"It's not!"

"It is and you know it." Something in Naruto's face seemed to reveal that whatever Sasuke had said had really gotten to him. The raven didn't have time to figure out how though before Naruto had turned and walked away. Sasuke looked over to Iruka and Kakashi, half expecting to get grounded or at the very least fussed at, but they just stared in awe struck. They probably had no idea what that was even about, and Sasuke decided that was a good thing.

He went after Naruto despite himself. He stood outside the blonde's door feeling like shit but also feeling dumb for feeling any type of regret for his words. It wasn't like he didn't still believe them, although he had been nicer to Iruka recently. Maybe not perfect but nicer. Still, he didn't believe any of what Naruto was saying and he wasn't about to pretend that he did just to make the idiot feel better. Not to mention Sasuke had been getting the impression that Naruto had switched how he wanted the Iruka Kakashi thing to play out, and that made him a traitor. With that in mind he had decided to just walk away when the door opened to reveal the idiot.

"It's creepy when you stand outside my door. Like an angel of death or an omen." Sasuke glared and flipped the blonde off. Naruto ignored it though as his features seemed to drop in defeat. "I don't know if you've noticed but I'm pretty sure Iruka and Kakashi are, or are about to date."

"Excuse me?" Nothing about the last few days seemed to be leading into anything like that.

"No really, I'm not joking. Iruka gets a sappy look when we are all together, didn't you see it earlier while he and Kakashi were whispering together." That Sasuke had seen, and it may have been why he was so tense during their meal. He nodded slowly. "I say we catch them kissing before the weekends up." Naruto gave a halfhearted smirk.

It repulsed Sasuke at the idea. Not the idea specifically of Iruka and Kakashi kissing, but the idea of having to live with a loving couple and deal with the pda everywhere. He didn't want Kakashi to get attached to someone so wishy washy like Iruka but Naruto was right, Iruka was a nice guy. If he had to see Kakashi kissing him all the time though, he was going to have a couple problems. Maybe Sasuke was a traitor to, especially if he was allowing the blonde to make him think that this wouldn't be horrible. "I give it a week. Iruka has kept him away this long, what's another week?"

"No way, Kakashi's been holding off for a year, he'll probably make quick work of it." Sasuke rolled his eyes, he knew Naruto's estimate was probably closer but he wouldn't admit that. "Don't roll your eyes, I knew Kakashi liked Iruka as soon as he saw Iruka's flowing locks and fluttery eyelashes." Naruto clasped his hands together and batted his eyes.

"You look stupid stop." Naruto leaned in closer and made his eyes wider. Sasuke laughed. "Idiot."

"Oh a genuine laugh from Mr. Tight Ass, there are such things as miracles." Sasuke glared and decided the best way to deal with the blonde when he gets cocky is to just ignore him, so he walked away. At first he was going to go to his room but then remembered he left his book.

Naruto was walking behind him, Sasuke was going to demand that the idiot not follow him but then he heard his stomach growl and he remembered that they hadn't eaten much of their food before they had managed to start a fight. Sasuke couldn't even completely remember why.

As the started speed walking to see who would get through the kitchen door way first, Sasuke had managed to catch a glimpse of what was happening and stopped the blonde. He put a hand over Naruto's mouth before he could complain and make any noise and nodded his head in the direction of their parents standing in the center of the kitchen. He felt Naruto thin his lips and freeze to the spot as the scene unfolded in front of them slowly but far more quickly than either had been ready for.

Privately Sasuke found the scene to be rather romantic even if it did make him want to gag at the cheesiness from it all. Iruka and Kakashi stood in the center of the kitchen whispering to each other as Kakashi played with Iruka's hair. They were slowly pulling closer to each other to finally kiss after a second of hesitation. It was a gentle kiss, short, and Sasuke couldn't help the thought 'first kiss' from popping into his brain. He felt warm and also cold at the same time. He was happy for them and terrified as well.

He looked away when he felt Naruto pull his hand from his mouth and grin at him. Sasuke grimaced back and ended up pushing the blonde away when Naruto started wiggling his eyes brows. Somehow he felt more at ease now then he had moments before, and about thirty times better than he had felt all week. Now all he could think about was his book and wanting to embarrass the two for being caught being intimate by their wards. As he turned back to the adults though he saw another something that hadn't been anything he expected or ever wanted to see. Iruka grabbed Kakashi by the shirt and pulled him to what look very much like a messy kiss.

"Get a room you guys."

The two jumped apart but Sasuke was too frustrated to care, he had wanted to be the one to ridicule them. "They technically already have one idiot." He said calmly as he walked to the table for his book and Naruto to the fridge.

Naruto grabbed a bottle of water and glared at Sasuke. "You know what I mean." Sasuke turned to leave but Naruto caught up with him. "They could find a different place for all that."

"The entire house is private property!" Sasuke yelled and looked over his shoulder to see if they were in the clear.

"Well I won that bet."

Sasuke shook his head. "I didn't think Iruka would be so forward. He must have made some type of deal or decision or I would have won." Naruto glared but smiled anyways.

"Too bad, I won either way." He sing-songed to Sasuke's disapproval.

Sasuke remained quiet though, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do or feel now. He still felt upset that they were together, and he felt upset that they were all so close, and things were changing in ways he didn't like, but somehow right now things didn't seem awful. Sure he didn't want to live with Naruto, he didn't want to live with a teacher. But he hadn't wanted to live with Kakashi at first either. Maybe if he and Naruto didn't acknowledge each other at school then people would stop asking them if they were brothers. They didn't even look alike, the idiots.

"Sasuke, please don't tell anyone about this. Not even Gaara. The kids aren't very nice; believe me I know. I don't want them to make this into something it doesn't need to be." Sasuke nodded feeling very aware of the times he has teased Naruto in class which might have influenced others to do the same. "Promise."

Sasuke studied the blonde for a moment. He looked like he was trying to threaten Sasuke but the way he had asked almost sounded like a plea. "Promise." Sasuke replied. Just like that they went their separate ways with the knowledge that they were officially stuck together. As Sasuke laid across his bed he realized that knowing was better than drifting in the possibilities, it didn't stop him from still feeling that nagging in his stomach that was anticipating the end of all of this. He rolled onto his back and huffed. He was right either way, nothing ever stayed the same, and this was going to change things no matter what. All he could do now was sit back and pray for a good ending.

* * *

**It happened, I uploaded. Sorry for the long wait, here is the thing. Please tell me what you think.**


	5. Little Insignificant Things

**It took a bit from me but hey, got another chapter. Hope this is a decent chapter, I jumped around a lot because I'm trying to get a mixture of older and newer scenes without dragging on into the more boring portions of domestic life. Tell me if this pattern works or if it's too jumpy, thanks and please enjoy.**

* * *

No one has ever assumed or stated that Naruto was very smart, not even he himself would claim to be smarter than the average person, maybe a little less since he knew he didn't pay attention in class enough; but he did know a few things. He knew that when Sasuke had his headphones in he didn't want to be bothered, knew that when Iruka was working too hard he would come home and lay his head against the table for at least an hour, and he knew that Kakashi was having a good day when the house was filled with light scratchy humming. These are things that he knew, they were easy things that anyone would pick up on.

He was full of this type of information; such as Sasuke's hair always seemed a little less gelled up on nights he didn't sleep well, He knew that Iruka kept his nails relatively long but would clip them extremely short when he was angry, and Kakashi, the usually quiet man he was, spoke less on harder days and drawled out his vowels when he pronounced certain words. These were a little harder to notice, and maybe a bit useless but they were things that Naruto noticed and what helped him more or less know when a joke or prank wouldn't be acceptable even if sometimes he still took things too far despite the small mood warnings.

He hadn't been aware of anything wrong once he and Sasuke separated and went their own way the night they found Iruka and Kakashi kissing in the kitchen but by morning the bastard had reverted back to the ice prince as usual but something else seemed especially off; something Naruto felt would be small and inconspicuous. He tried for most of the morning to figure out what it might be but he couldn't figure it out. He came in with his hair less than perfect but still nice, his headphones were around his neck for the ride to school, he wore darker colors today, and his sketchbook was stuffed under his arm with two dulling pencils in his grip. Still he couldn't tell what was wrong or even why anything would be wrong.

Even starting a fight didn't seem to give up anything other than he really wasn't one to mess with today; which Naruto had easily devised from his wardrobe choice and the solid frown upon emerging from his room. The raven had even returned to an old hurtful nickname, Kitsune, that Naruto had been startled at. It had been quite a while since that name was used against him. Before he could get too angry and probably do or say something that would worsen the situation Iruka came in and told them to basically shut up and get their shit.

Sasuke was slipping on his backpack when Kakashi had come over and kissed Iruka right there in the open. Both boys froze and their eyes met for half a second. Iruka smacked at Kakashi halfheartedly to show his embarrassment but it made Sasuke glare at Naruto before sighing and heading out the door. Something about that seemed a little less prickly than his attitude at the beginning of the day. He was still vicious throughout the rest of the day but he seemed to have lapses of quietness where his face would even out and his frown would lessen. It was interesting, and it's the reason Naruto decided that he needed more information.

During a break between their classes Naruto had done his best imitation of a ninja to get to Sasuke's book bag before the raven could get back from using the restroom. He would need to be severely careful to not be caught doing this otherwise he could say good bye to living past middle school. He opened up the bag just enough to get out the sketch book, that he knew Sasuke carried with himself everywhere, and then jet back to his seat where Kiba and Choji sat making fun of him and being stupidly loud for the watch outs they were supposed to be.

Today Kiba had a cold and so decided to not go out and make a loud ruckus in the halls like he usual did and so was around when Naruto had been complaining about Sasuke's 'even pissier than usual' mood swings. "Alright so you got his doodle book, how is that going to make the prick less asshole-ish than he already is?" He asked with the straw of a juice box pinched between his teeth.

Careful so as not to wrinkle or tear it up any more than it already was, he laid the battered and used sketchbook down on his desk and opened it to the first page. "What the hell Naruto you said he was a good artist." Choji grumbled through a bite of his snack food.

"He is!" Naruto glared down at the stupid disproportionate looking scribble of a squirrel on the first page, it did kinda suck. Naruto bit his lip as he turned towards the back of the book and prayed this wasn't really just going to be full of his shitty old art. It was one thing to steal Sasuke's sketchbook and show others, it was a completely different thing to steal Sasuke's sketchbook of shit art and show people. One would get him killed and the other would earn him a special place in the deepest darkest pits of hell. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw a beautiful sketch of Iruka with his hair down and smiling at something off center of the page.

As Kiba and Choji screeched about how good it was, Naruto felt a strange bit of pride from that. The drawing was nice and it made Naruto think of how often Iruka seemed to be without his typical pony tail now that Kakashi was around, the blonde guessed Sasuke had also noticed. He remembers growing up and hearing Iruka complain about his hair being in the way but not wanting to cut it, so his guardian's answer was to constantly have it up and out of the way. The loose hair was a good look on Iruka though.

"You shouldn't have that." Naruto Jumped and Choji spit out a few crumbs as they looked up and saw the redheaded kid that never seems to speak, Naruto was certain this was the first time he has ever heard the kids voice. It was unnerving. Naruto knew that his name was Gaara but only because Sasuke had mentioned him, he wasn't even sure the teacher knew his name.

"Yeah well, we do. What ya gonna do about it shorty?" Naruto winced as Kiba stood up to lean into Gaara's personal space. He really hated Kiba's need to act like top dog, no pun intended. He was already dead meat now that Gaara knew he had Sasuke's sketch book but if Gaara and Kiba fought then the shit would be on for real. Not only would he have stolen Sasuke's sketchbook, but then Sasuke's friend would have been injured in the process as well. Not that Kiba would win in a fight against Gaara, everyone knew Gaara could wipe the floor with just about anyone, but Kiba was a good fighter and seemed to have a fair amount of luck so it wasn't like the redhead would get out of the fight without a scratch.

"I will do nothing since it isn't mine to defend, but Sasuke will know the next time I see him." Naruto half expected Gaara to turn away dramatically but instead he turned to look directly at Naruto and make something in his chest tighten. His bright green eyes were haunting and he could see the disappointment that somehow made Naruto feel guilty for his action. After that is when Gaara dramatically turned and walked back to his desk to apparently read a book.

He shivered and allowed that moment of guilt to completely drain from his body. He wouldn't feel guilty for this, especially since he did this to see what was wrong with Sasuke. That was a good thing wasn't it? He shrugged and flipped a page back and saw himself, well that was surprising.

"Gay!" Kiba screeched making Choji snort and cough up a few more crumbs. Naruto glared at Kiba and quickly turned the page again. He nearly jumped back when he saw a very detailed snake before him. "Sheesh, I don't think this is going to show what's up with him Naruto. Your gonna have to give up and ask the fairy whats up his ass, or not ya know." Naruto snapped the book shut and glared harshly at his friend who only grinned back.

He understood that Kiba, along with most of the population, didn't seem to think that using gay as a slur towards someone was so awful or know why it offended Naruto so personally but it didn't stop the blonde from feeling subjected to bullying from his closest friends. When Kiba bumped him to try getting him to respond Naruto felt something in his resolve break. "Stop Kiba. It's not okay to use gay as an insult or joke." It got quiet once more and Naruto could feel Gaara's eyes on him again, not to mention the teacher's, who had just conveniently walked in for Naruto's outburst. "There isn't anything wrong with those people living and loving who they want and you using it as an insult makes it harder for others to see them as average and functioning humans." Kiba had one of his eyebrows raised and the look he was giving made Naruto's tongue feel swollen and stuck to the roof of his mouth.

One thing about Kiba was that he didn't take well to being told he shouldn't do things. Even if it was something he agreed with, if he were told not to do it he would end up doing it despite his knowledge of knowing better just out of spite. He was also one that was full of surprises and apparently today was one of his more accepting days. "Your right, I'm sorry." He licked his teeth and smiled. "Won't happen again amigo." Just like that he clapped the frozen blonde on the shoulder and sat down to finish his break with another juice box. Choji went back to munching, Gaara went back to reading, the teacher started writing things on the board, and some kids started walking into class. Nothing had changed and yet Naruto felt like something big had just happened. It stayed with him throughout the day and allowed his mood to lighten up.

Later in the day Sasuke didn't say anything to him but gave him a glare that let him know that he was very muchly so aware of what Naruto had done. The drawings really were amazing though. Every once in a while Sasuke would let him watch as he drew and each time it would blow his mind that the raven could make such detailed drawings seemingly appear out of nowhere. He did realize why Sasuke didn't like his drawings to be looked at though, he could see emotion in a few of them, like the one where he drew Iruka was stunning but Iruka had the look on his face he usually reserved for Kakashi in sweeter moments. Naruto had noticed that since their conversation, more like argument, Sasuke had seemed almost closer to Iruka; it showed in the drawing especially and Naruto had a theory that maybe Sasuke accepted their parent's relationship more than he was letting on.

Over all there wasn't much else that would prove why Sasuke was in such a mood these last couple days. He had told Iruka about the book and after a bout of affection Iruka had in the end made it clear that if Naruto were to steal the sketchbook again there would be hell to pay, the blonde had decided that next time he should be more careful to not get caught. That's how Naruto took it at least, and Sasuke was sure to glare at him the entire ride home and for the most part during the trip to wherever it was Kakashi was taking them.

The steamed raven did seem to simmer down about thirty minutes after they arrived to the aquarium though and Naruto decided to take this as an advantage to fix the kinda wrong, but not really since he was trying to do good, thing he had done. One of the cool things Iruka had taught Naruto is that sometimes the only way to fix something is to charm the pants off of someone. The blonde knew he had a history of not being everyone's favorite but he did know how to bring the charm when he tried; he just really hoped that Sasuke wouldn't see through his bullshittery.

"Hey Sasuke look at this weird fish." Despite the glare and huff of annoyance Sasuke did come over to look. "I bet you could probably draw this fish really well!"

"You would know wouldn't you, asshole." Just like that Sasuke walked off mumbling about Naruto being a thief. It was noted that anything to do about art was off the topics of conversation list.

"Hey, Sasuke." He called again a few minutes later. "What does this word mean?" Yes Naruto liked to write, no he wasn't very good at it, and yes, he really didn't know what a Nautilus was. The raven did his usual glare and huff whenever he had to interact with Naruto and walked over to read the plaque that Naruto had pointed at.

It took Sasuke a couple seconds but he eventually straightened up and pointed to a shell like thing in the tank. "It's a Chambered Nautilus, it's the name of it. If you just read the sign you would have figured it out eventually."

"Well maybe I wouldn't have, your just smart is all." Naruto turned away and made a disgusted face at his own admission. He heard Sasuke do the 'hn' thing and felt a small victory that it had sounded more pleased than disgusted. "Let's go look at the sharks!" Naruto dragged them through the rest of the aquarium with Sasuke making snappish comments the entire time.

The rest of the day had been pretty uneventful and somewhat boring but Sasuke and Naruto both kept that from Iruka and Kakashi who had apparently thought that it had been a 'fun' day. In the car Sasuke and Naruto had argued over the movie. Sasuke insisted the worse part of it was the fake explosions everywhere but Naruto was very convinced the entire issue with the movie was the ungodly acting from the lead of all people. Once at home though Naruto found himself to be fairly tired and content as he laid face first on the kitchen floor. He was half-heartedly listing to Iruka and Kakashi talking excitedly about god knows what when he suddenly found himself in dream land. A shark was trying to kiss him and it sounded strangely like the guy with the bad acting from the movie.

He woke up just before the shark managed to get him and froze as he realized that he was still moving despite the dream being over. "Are you awake?" Naruto looked up and saw Sasuke's face and the hallway décor, was Sasuke carrying him? He blinked and shrugged, honestly not sure. "Oh good you are."

Naruto landed on the ground with an 'oof'. "Oh no, I'm fine don't worry about me, spleens are easy to grow back." He huffed as Sasuke stepped over him. He slowly managed to get up but only barely caught himself before following Sasuke into his room. The last time he had been in there he and Sasuke had yelled about some pretty intense stuff. He thought about it again; maybe it had done some good in the long run. Iruka seemed happier and despite what they had both hoped Iruka and Kakashi were together now. Naruto felt right in what he had said about Iruka loving them and about Sasuke needing to accept that Iruka wasn't out to hurt anyone.

"Why are you just standing there?" Naruto looked up to Sasuke and shrugged. Sasuke had been moody recently but maybe it wasn't because there was specifically anything wrong. Maybe he was just trying. For once maybe he was trying to get use to others instead of having others get use to him, maybe he was trying to let Iruka be the caring person he was, maybe he was trying to accept the Kakashi and Iruka thing. Naruto felt him on that last one, definitely something he was still trying to process. "Come in or get out. One or the other." That was one theory, and it went along with the portrait of Iruka he had seen.

Putting on a cheeky grin Naruto decided to try as well. "Thanks for the offer." Naruto stepped into the room and smiled brightly, feeling victory when Sasuke rolled his eyes but didn't glare or throw something at him. They sat on the bed but Sasuke got out his head phones and seemed to be picking out a choice song. "Wait."

"What!" Sasuke snapped yanking a headphone out.

Naruto hesitated, was this normal snappy Sasuke or get the hell away snappy Sasuke? "I'm kind of glad Iruka and Kakashi are together. Is that gross?" It was a risky question but Naruto has always done the risky first and thought on its consequences later. Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he took out his other headphone. "Like I'm not glad that I have to see them kissing, and I'm not thrilled that if the relationship continued then they will eventually-

"Stop right there, get to the point." Sasuke interrupted.

Naruto licked his lips nervously. "Right, none of that. I'm glad though; I'm glad I'm not wondering anymore and I'm glad that Iruka has someone now. I haven't even seen him go on a proper date. I think he was too busy trying to be a super dad for me." Sasuke nodded and looked off at his shelves. Naruto hoped he was thinking about how nice it was that Iruka let him keep those.

"I'm not happy." Sasuke announced looking down to his hands. "I'm not upset about it anymore but I wouldn't describe what I feel as 'happy'. Maybe closer to resigned but it doesn't feel like I could describe it with a possitive or negative term. It's just something that is happening in my life." Naruto nodded feeling a bit of relief. He dropped his shoulders to let the tension ease from them. He smiled at Sasuke and was surprised to get a small, barely visible one in return. He got up and waved as he headed for the door and felt the same feeling he had gotten with Kiba after the whole homophobic slur deal. It seemed like practically nothing happened but it felt like it changed something, and it made Naruto feel content again as he made his way for his room.

* * *

"Just leave them alone ya big doof." Kiba pulled against Naruto's arm as the blonde yelled profanities back at Sasuke and Gaara who they had accidentally ran into on their way from the playground to town. As soon as Naruto had seen Sasuke he had ran up to him and cupped his hands over Sasuke's eyes. Needless to say he got his ass kicked by Sasuke who hadn't found it entertaining to be surprised like that and they both got kicked out of the store.

Gaara had walked out a few seconds after everything and handed Sasuke a popsicle before opening his own and taking a bite out of it; Naruto had seen that and winced. Just another reason to avoid picking a fight with the red head. When Naruto and Sasuke started at each other again Gaara and Kiba nodded to each other and grabbed their friends to try prying them in opposite directions. It was harder than one would think and Kiba felt a respect for Gaara, to be able to deal with Sasuke at his most prickly was definitely something Kiba wasn't confident he would have been able to do.

"I'm gonna kick his ass later." Kiba snorted at the declaration and rolled his eyes but Naruto was too focused trying to look over his shoulder and walk to pay attention. "Oh, hey Kiba." Naruto finally turned to his best friend looking as chipper as he had been that morning. "Do you have enough money with you to see that one movie? We could go see it right now." Naruto started to bounce as they moved forward. He and Kiba had planned to see a new action movie but kept getting caught up in other things. Mostly the hold ups were from Naruto and Sasuke's bickering reaching the point of either breaking something or bothering Iruka and earning more chores or simply being grounded. Although it wasn't like his and Sasuke's arguing was horrible. They had been fighting less, but when they do fight it was just like their fights from when they were younger. Naruto liked to think it was summer magic that kept their fights to a minimum but he was sure it was because Sasuke got out more since he became friends with Gaara and Neji.

Kiba smiled up at him and Naruto's bouncing increased as they made their way towards the movie theatre. This summer had been a good one for movies, almost every day you could go out and run into class mates going out to see a movie. Like right now Naruto and Kiba saw Neji and Hinata walking out of the theatre chattering as they walked. 'Speak of a devil and they will appear' Naruto had thought.

"Yo! Hyuga clan what's shaking?" Naruto laughed at Neji's frustrated glare and passingly waved to the flustered Hinata. He hoped he hadn't scared her, he seemed to do that a lot. "What movie did you guys just see?"

Neji looked over at Hinata and nudged the girl who cleared her throat. "O-oh we just saw the new movie covering the life of butterflies. We get bonus points if we do a report on it and show the teacher our ticket stub to prove we went and watched it." Naruto nodded, this was honestly the longest he had ever heard Hinata speak other than during oral reports. Neji bumped Hinata again to make the shy girl look up but she looked away again after making eye contact with Naruto.

"Wow that's incredibly lame, but good job being perfect students despite it being summer." The brunette grinned and waggled his eyebrows getting a laugh from Hinata and an eye roll from her older cousin. "Why not just relax, I'm pretty sure that's what summer is for?" Neji glared over at Kiba but smirked none the less. This was actually good, not too long ago Naruto remembered Neji being extremely stuck up and even fighting with Naruto, but since he moved in with Hinata he has calmed down a lot. "Speaking of relaxing, heard you and Tenten have been getting cozier with each other." The smirk fell from Neji's face and Naruto suddenly found a lot of interest in this topic.

"Oh ho, really now? And how did one such as yourself come to obtain this information my good friend?" Naruto asked wiggling his eye brows at Neji.

"Why, you see, its simple." Kiba played along. "Ino told me that Sakura told her that Lee told her that they have a martial arts class together and always seem to spar together and then spend long times talking and giggling with each other." Neji just rose an eyebrow at Kiba as if to seem unimpressed. "But then I also heard from Ino that Lee told her that Mr. Gai, who we all know runs the doujo, had been walking to his car when he could have sworn he saw the two kissing up against an ally wall."

Naruto dropped his jaw in surprise and then turned to Neji and burst out in laughter when he saw the slightly opened mouth and wide eyes that proved the truth in the story. Hinata had a blush but was also smiling behind her hand in attempt to spare her cousin from further embarrassment. Kiba clapped the brunette on the shoulder and winked which lead to Neji stomping off in a storm if Naruto ever saw one. Iruka, the king of storming, would have been proud of that one.

Kiba chatted Hinata up a bit as Naruto went ahead and bought their tickets. When he came back she smiled and quickly excused herself. "Dude, why does she do that? Is she scared of me?"

The smile Kiba had lessened a bit but he reformed it and shrugged. "I guess she might be; I was pretty scared of your ugly mug for a while." Naruto slugged him in the arm but they both laughed loudly and headed back inside to get set up for the movie. For the most part the movie was alright. The acting could have been better but the graphics and plot line did everything to make up for it. They left the movies discussing it but definitely feeling they could have lived without seeing it.

They were on their way back to Naruto's house when Naruto spotted a small yard with a sign that read 'yard sale'. At first he didn't think much of it; he associated yard sales with old ladies and Iruka. He did glance over what they were selling though, there were a lot of cloths, a few baby toys and then what looked like a huge box containing a small disassembled swing set. They had almost passed it when Naruto stopped in the center of his sentence at the sight of a ratty looking stuffed rabbit. Kiba tried to see what it was that Naruto was staring at but didn't understand what it was.

Making the decision Naruto stepped up to the fold out table and grabbed the rabbit. Sasuke doesn't talk about the rabbit he lost when he was younger anymore but Naruto had always kind of wished they could replace it. He rubbed his thumb over its belly, it was still really soft. Would getting this count as a birthday present? Or would Sasuke punch him on the spot for getting him a baby toy. It wasn't in the best condition seeing as one of the marble eyes were trying to fall off, but it wasn't a bit of glue couldn't fix.

"My daughter loved that when she was little, are you interested in buying it?" Naruto looked up to the plump woman who smiled back at him. He didn't have a whole lot of money left. "It's only two dollars." She said gently as if reading his thoughts.

"Why would you buy this though? Did you use to have one like it or something?" Kiba didn't sound teasing but Naruto still felt a need to explain, but he wouldn't do it in front of this woman. He paid her and dragged Kiba away from the sale. "Whoa whoa what's with the dragging?"

Naruto mumbled a quick sorry and turned to his rowdy friend. "I got it for Sasuke." Well that got Kiba's attention. He stopped complaining and gave Naruto a disbelieving look but then laughed and walked ahead. "What?" Naruto snapped jogging to catch up with his friend.

"You do realize that getting Sasuke a gag gift isn't going to do you any favors. Especially if he opens in front of Iruka. I don't know who would smack you upseide the head first. Hell I would say they would both get ya at the same time." Naruto just shook his head. He was willing to allow Kiba to believe it was just a gag gift, Kiba on the other hand had retaken interest when Naruto hadn't laughed or added on to what he had said. "So why did you buy it if not for a gag?"

Before answering Naruto gauged about how much he could tell Kiba. Normally he tells Kiba everything whether Sasuke liked it or not, but somehow this seemed more personal. "I guess in a way it is a gag but I don't think Sasuke would get angry. When we were a lot younger he had a stuffed rabbit like this but then he lost it in the fire." Naruto brought the rabbit up to his face to examine it closely. "Maybe I'll throw in another small sketchbook while I'm at it. Just to make sure he doesn't punch me."

"You better, I personally wouldn't want a stuffed rabitt for my birthday. Maybe a really big stuffed dog, like really big. Big enough to be my bed." Naruto gave a snorting laugh at that. Kiba gave him a side look but then shrugged. "He definitely isn't me though and you do know him better than I do so who knows." Naruto nodded. That was true but the fact that he still didn't know Sasuke's moods well was also true. He would either like it or throw it at Naruto and not talk to him for the rest of break. That wouldn't be healthy for Iruka's sake.

"Sasuke!" Naruto burst into the raven's room and glared at him as he placed the sketchbook he had just gotten from Naruto onto his shelf. "Did you like your presents or not? You just kinda up and left!"

"You broke my door down just to ask me that. Naruto, I worry about you sometimes." Sasuke shook his head and walked to his bed to sit on the edge. Naruto bristled but just glared at Sasuke to get his point across. "Yes, you knucklehead, I like them." Sasuke placed his hand across the pendant that Iruka had given him, that made Naruto smile. He had been with Iruka when he bought it. The entire ride home he kept asking if it was the right choice or if he should go back and buy something different. It made Naruto feel anxious about his gift as well but he assured Iruka that it looked great and was a good fit to Sasuke; and he had been right.

"Good!" He eventually said coming in and sitting in front of one of Sasuke's book cases. He let his fingers run across the different spines of the fiction section. "I thought for a second you were going to punch me for the rabbit but when I saw it I knew you had to have it." Sasuke scoffed but slide down to sit next to Naruto.

"We are almost high-schoolers and you thought I needed a stuffed animal? Nice Naru, that makes since." The blonde glared for half a second but went back to reading the different books.

The summer just made things easier between them, again Naruto thought about it. They always got a long better in the summer. Not as many people watching and judging them, more time able to be spent apart, and it was easier to get away with punching each other when they could blame it on playing soccer at the park or something. It made Naruto happier, he doesn't actually like all the fighting and he suspected that Sasuke didn't like it either.

"Up on the bed, I wanna sketch." Naruto inwardly cringed as he tuned in to hear the last part of what Sasuke wanted. The last time he had sat for Sasuke it took an hour of sitting perfectly still and it was not fun. He got up slowly but grabbed a random book before he went. He sat on the bed and waited as Sasuke position his face in different ways before being told to not move. He carefully brought the book up so he could read but was sure to keep it out of Sasuke's way.

About ten minutes in and Naruto was already bored of his book and getting fidgety. "Sasuke are you excited for school?" He turned his eyes to Sasuke, he had his brows furrowed and a frown was set across his face in concentration.

It took nearly a minute for a reply but Naruto didn't press it since he was use to the delayed responses once Sasuke started drawing. "No. Too many people, I don't like them." Naruto nodded but then stopped when he heard Sasuke hiss and then erase something. "Why, are you excited?"

"Yeah! Probably for the first time ever. Neji doesn't hate me as much anymore, Sakura only hits me once a week now, and then there are some kids that transferred from the next town over and they seem pretty ok. Oh and I'm thinking about joining basketball. You should do a sport to, you always complain about me being lazy but I never see you do anything." Naruto waited for Sasuke to come back with a snarky remark but instead it seemed that he had ignored Naruto's playful teasing.

"Those new students, I don't like them; they aren't good Naruto. Just the other day they were talking shit about you. They were trying to get me to do it to but when I told them no they got upset and bumped me when they left." Naruto's smile faltered as he took in the information. They were perfectly nice to his face, a little nerdy, it didn't seem like something they would do, or even be able to do with their lanky frames. "You should stay away from them, especially that upper classman with glasses."

"Don't tell me what to do. And don't talk bad about them." Sasuke looked stunned but rose his hands up in a sign of surrender. Naruto went back to his position and Sasuke picked up his sketchpad and set to work again. It became quiet and tense in the room, and Naruto didn't like it, it was the buzzing tension filled quiet that made him feel anxious. "How was your date with Gaara." He hoped a change in topics would bring back the calm they were somehow managing until Naruto had snapped.

"Wasn't a date." He answered without looking up.

Naruto smiled a little as he leaned towards Sasuke. "You went to the fair and shared ice-cream, and don't think I didn't see you guys getting on the Ferris wheel." Sasuke looked up with a glare. "Did you kiss him?" The raven's eyes went wide for a second but he shook his head and went back to work on the rough sketch. "No, he kissed you then?" Naruto laughed until he realized Sasuke didn't look back up or glare, instead he had frozen. "Oh my god he did!" Naruto fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling in shock.

"Shh, hell Naruto. Kakashi does have a tendency to spy, don't say shit like that out loud." He looked over the blonde and at the door as if expecting to see Kakashi through the wood.

A surreal feeling washed over Naruto, something about Gaara and Sasuke being together seemed more abnormal than it probably was supposed to. "So you and No-brows? That isn't something I thought would ever happen, ever." This time Sasuke did glare at him and pointedly tapped his pencil to the paper impatiently. Naruto caught the implication and shook his head and sat back up. "I'm not dropping this, when did it happen?"

"Oh my god Naruto, he kissed me once, it hasn't happened since and it probably won't happen again since I pushed him away and we went home right after." Sasuke tried again to go back to his drawing and escape the conversation but Naruto had grabbed his pencil from him. "What?" He half yelled.

For a second Naruto thought about honestly dropping the subject but he was also too curious to just let this pass. "Are you and Gaara ok though? He's your best friend isn't he, a kiss shouldn't mess that up." Sasuke sighed and turned away as if not looking at Naruto directly would make the blonde vanish. "Have you said anything to him? One time I walked in on Kiba after a shower and he hunted me down and slugged me one for not knocking but then we were good afterwards. Although, we both know the only thing romantic between us is our shared love for greasy food."

Sasuke scoffed and shook his head. It got quiet again, Naruto felt like this was a time when he was supposed to do something, like hug, or tell him things will get better. Something friends or family would do. Instead he handed back Sasuke's pencil, turned his head and remained still while Sasuke continued to drawing him. When he finished he laid back and nudged Naruto with his foot to let him know he could move again.

As Naruto was reaching for the portrait of himself his phone buzzed. It was one of the new kids, Kabuto, the one with the glasses and the one Sasuke especially didn't like. Unfortunately, Sasuke saw the text and recognized the name. "Idiot, get out of my room."

"Why just cause I'm talking to someone you don't like?" Naruto glared.

Sasuke turned to him with an impassive face. "Yeah, exactly right. Now get the fuck out." He kicked Naruto hard and the blonde flew off the bed. A fight started then, Kakashi had to come in, Iruka had to get ice packets. It wasn't a pretty ordeal.

Naruto didn't know why Sasuke had made such a big deal. Even if what he said was true, they seemed nice to his face, and Naruto knew that he had a tendency of being too much for certain people. Maybe they were just trying to let off some steam. It was too much for Naruto to think about without getting angry and frustrated so instead he flopped onto his bed and tried to dream about what the new school year would be like, instead his dream was about a giant snake separating himself from Sasuke.


	6. Fight after Fight

**Hey guys, here is another chapter. This one is pretty long and has Sasuke's school fight in it. I don't if any of you are easily triggered by bullying but in case any of you are, there are some slurs and derogative comments in this.**

* * *

Putting aside everything, Sasuke thought himself a patient man, if he could call himself a man. He has dealt with Kakashi and his antics practically his entire living life, he has steadily and painfully gotten use to Naruto's never faltering personality, and has even brought himself to become closer to Iruka, who he now sees as an important reliable source in his life. He has accepted that his house burnt down and even got over his initial embarrassment with people asking why he and Naruto were always together despite disliking each other. Even when it got around that Sasuke's dad was dating Naruto's dad he breathed through it and got through the rumors and strange looks, after all Naruto had warned him about this. With everything that's happened the raven felt there wasn't much else the world could throw at him that he wouldn't be able to handle in an instant.

Of course he meant it rhetorically but the universe had apparently thought it was a challenge of some sorts. Just within the first month of the new school year Naruto had been dragged away by his new crew of thugs and hasn't kindly spoken to Sasuke at all, Sasuke has gotten into a small fight with Gaara over not texting him for a whole month after the kiss (to be fair, Gaara hadn't messaged him either), and apparently becoming angry and snappy with everything going on meant that he needed counseling. Sasuke cared for Iruka and Kakashi, but he had no idea what they were doing that lead them to believe counseling was going to suddenly make everyone less annoying and unpredictable. Especially since the therapist was obsessed with telling Sasuke that he was angry because he wasn't use to the 'new family' yet, which was bullshit.

By the second month though he was more done than he had ever thought possible. The thugs had found it entertaining to whisper insults under their breath just loud enough for Sasuke to hear, they jostled him in the hall, and at one point Sasuke thought he could hear Naruto laugh at something they had said; It left a sour taste in his mouth for a long time. Gaara was back to talking to him, thankfully, even though they hadn't settled the great kiss dispute. Sasuke had reason to assume it was pity that lead his friend to let up on the topic to which he was unfathomably grateful for.

At home life wasn't as big of a deal, he could be at peace for the most part or at least shut everyone out of his room as he drew or read. Iruka was a constant flutter over his new students like he usually was at the beginning of a school year but he also seemed to be becoming worried more about Naruto and Sasuke's dissipating relationship. Naruto was always gone throughout the day and came home only long enough to eat dinner and sneak out at night to do god knows what. They never spoke normally anymore, just unsure glances or harsh stares, surprisingly it offended Sasuke to have Naruto turn away from him the way he did recently. Like he couldn't stand to look at Sasuke anymore than he had to.

Sasuke sighed and rolled over in bed for the thirtieth time. Sleep wasn't very forthcoming that night and these thoughts weren't really helping him relax. Reaching for his phone Sasuke decided to text Gaara for advice. A bonus to having a friend with insomnia, they are always awake to bother. 'What do you do for insomnia?' He texted and laid his phone down on the bed next to him. A gurgling sound came from his belly and he rolled his eyes at it.

He reached for his phone when it buzzed again. 'Nothing, there isn't really anything to do. Why?' Was the redhead's response.

Well that was a useless answer. But it made Sasuke feel a bit more sympathetic for his friend. 'I can't sleep' He texted back. His stomach rumbled again so Sasuke shushed it, not caring that he was talking to his stomach like Naruto usually did.

'Have you tried getting up and doing something?'

'Does getting Tomatoes from the fridge count?' Sasuke decided not to wait for the answer. He hadn't eaten a lot since his therapist had pissed him off that morning which made him less than willing to be manageable so he just excused himself to his room mid-meal. He saw Kakashi watch him with disapproval but he ignored it and kept walking. Later that evening Kakashi had tried to talk to him but the raven had pushed him away. He hoped Kakashi knew that he didn't mean to be so difficult he just really didn't want to talk.

He hadn't ever snuck out but Sasuke was pretty confident in his ability to sneak around the house. This wasn't his first late night snack run, just the other night he had stolen a small bowl of fruits, and the night before that some cereal. As Sasuke gathered up his bowel he wondered if it was really healthy to be eating so late even if it was healthy small snacks. He shrugged it off and hurried to his room in time to see his phone go off again.

'It can if you want it to I suppose.' Sasuke gave small smile to that before turning to his food. He and Gaara were still shaky but Sasuke knew that Gaara was probably also smiling and shaking his head.

He finished off his food quickly and chatted a bit with Gaara. He was pretty tired now, and it was easier to keep his eyes closed. He could almost be completely asleep until his phone vibrated and started him out of his almost slumber. He groaned as he read the text. 'Don't leave dishes in your room, Iruka would be less than happy.' Sasuke didn't want to get up but Gaara was right, his guardian really would flip his lid if he started leaving dishes in his room.

As Sasuke forced himself up and out the door with his bowl he wondered how Iruka would feel if he knew that even Gaara knew about how fierce he could be and even helped Sasuke keep on the brunette's good side. A smile showed on his face as he dropped off the dish into the sink and began his sleepy shuffle back to his room. Maybe he could invite Gaara over; Naruto always had Kiba over. He nodded to himself and made a mental note to consider this further another time.

Once he made it to the hallway he heard thumping feet quickly coming down the black hallway which terrified him enough but when he saw a black mass running at him he thought he was about to have a heart attack. The mass crashed into him and they fell back onto the floor where the heavy body's weight pinned the raven to the floor. When he heard Naruto groan he was a bit more relieved since it wasn't a murderer but also a bit more irritated. Sasuke was pretty sure Naruto had broken his face with whatever had landed on his face. He opened his eyes and saw Naruto slowly opening his and then pulling back quickly. Sasuke rolled his eyes, he realized that they had just had an accidental lip lock, more like Naruto had bashed their faces together. If this incident had chipped a tooth Sasuke swore he would scalp Naruto just like the Indians use to do.

"You even taste like tomatoes." Naruto mumbled cocking his head to the side in confusion.

Sasuke sat up some, less than pleased that Naruto had yet to even attempt to get up past sitting up. "What?" He hissed trying to shove Naruto off.

Thankfully the blonde got up and even helped Sasuke get to his feet, which was a bit surprising to the raven seeing as usually the blonde avoided him all together. "I said you taste like tomatoes; I guess 'cause you eat so many. Ya are what you eat huh?" Naruto smiled and chuckled to himself but Sasuke felt himself go completely red. He had realized what happened but was more preoccupied with the pain and frustration he felt to really care about the lip lock. With Naruto joking about it though he felt humiliated. He wasn't going to tolerate this teasing, not from anyone but especially not from Naruto. He shoved the blonde over and turned without a word to walk back to his room, not caring that he shut it a bit louder than he should have at like three in the morning,

Safely in his own room he dove onto the bed and buried his burning face into his pillows. The phone buzzed from somewhere among the blankets but Sasuke just groaned as loud as he could without being too loud and waking up his parents. When the phone buzzed again he finally lifted his head and started shuffling around the covers to find it. Gaara had sent three texts.

'Was the assignment for English due this Tuesday or next?'

'Next, thanks for the help though.'

'I'm going to assume you're a terrible friend that went to sleep, hopefully after you took your bowl back to the kitchen.'

A sigh left Sasuke as he rolled onto his side and wiggled his feet until they tucked under the covers. Now that everything was over he was feeling sleepy and he already was a terrible friend, maybe it wouldn't be that much more of a stretch if he just didn't reply and instead went to sleep. He had decided he wanted sleep but he tapped the reply box before he knew it and typed out a couple sentences to send. 'Naruto ran into me, literally, and we ended up with our mouths crashed together.' After he sent it he properly read what he had typed and felt a jolt of fresh humiliation and realization.

Gaara's reply back was nearly instant. 'Explain.' Sasuke responded and gave the main points and had a mini rant about how he definitely did not taste like tomatoes. Unfortunately, Gaara had seemed to agree with the blonde. They didn't talk about it long, especially after Gaara made the reference to the kiss. Sasuke ditched at that point and said that he was feeling tired then and wanted to sleep. The next morning though he woke up to a text from Gaara asking if they could seriously talk, that it was important. That set the morning off with a sour taste.

For the rest of his morning routine he thought about the text and felt a pit of anxiety rest heavily in his abdomen. At one point Naruto had brought up the lip lock again and was riling him up purposefully even when Sasuke tried to simply ignore him and move on with his day. Normally the blonde would have backed off but the way he kept stepping in Sasuke's way and whispering jokes at him reminded him too much of how Kabuto and his gang were and it was just too much too early in the morning Sasuke snapped and lunged at Naruto.

The fight didn't make him feel better, especially when he realized that they were so into the fight that they hadn't even realized that Iruka showed up and was trying to separate them until Iruka all but threw them to separate sides of the room and then stood between them looking somewhat scared but stern. It hurt Sasuke a little, he thought he was doing a good job at doing this 'happy family' thing but it was harder than he thought. In all fairness, as soon as he had started trying it seemed like Naruto stopped. And it wasn't fair.

At school Sasuke saw Kabuto check the bruise on Naruto's cheek but the blonde just shook his head with a shrug and went back to goofing around like normal. Kabuto though, immediately locked eyes with Sasuke and a shiver went up the raven's spine. The feeling in his abdomen increased and now he felt the need to look behind him with every step he took. It wasn't his fault that Naruto was too slow and ended up getting hit, besides he ended up getting a foot to the rib when Iruka grabbed them and kept him from being able to move out of the way. They were even.

Gaara was pretty chill whenever he met up with Sasuke at their lockers but Sasuke wasn't about to let his guard down. If being friends with Gaara taught him anything it was that his friend had a better poker face than anyone on planet earth, that included all of Sasuke's family. They walked for a while around the school waiting for the bell to ring initiating official class time which made Sasuke nervous. Gaara waited until the last five minutes before class to bring up the subject that Sasuke had been dreading.

"We need to talk about what happened at the fair. No running or avoiding, we just need to get a few things out there so it doesn't distance us or something like that." Sasuke gave a look to Gaara who shrugged in return. It wasn't often Gaara tried to play councilor but if their friendship was important enough for Gaara to push this then it had to be done. It didn't make Sasuke like it any more than had to though.

Sasuke motioned to a bench sitting against a wall and a little away from the other students, it seemed like as good a place as any for this talk. Once they sat down Sasuke straightened himself up and tried to prepare himself for this. To say he had thought about what happened between them was an understatement and a half. He basically spent the month apart from Gaara agonizing over it and how he must have ruined their friendship by rejecting the redhead so hastily. He cared for Gaara a lot and he had noticed that he and Gaara were getting closer physically at the time but somehow he hadn't equalized it to his best friend having a crush on him or leading up to being kissed at the top of a Ferris wheel. The only reason he had pushed Gaara away was because the sudden movement of the cart and Gaara's sudden proximity had frightened him, but after he realized what happened he was too stunned to form words and his friend had taken it as rejection.

He looked to his friend who still seemed pretty relaxed about all of this, he wondered if he was hiding his anger or maybe was about to tell Sasuke they couldn't be friends anymore. The thought made Sasuke's chest tighten up, maybe that meant he did like Gaara? "Ok, so we both know that a male kissing another male means that at least one of them are gay." Sasuke shook his head numbly. "I don't think my choice in gender would bother you," He waited for Sasuke to nod. "But I do like you. I don't want it to cause you to not want to be around me though."

This was the point where Gaara was trying to let Sasuke take over the conversation. Normally that was a good thing, leading a conversation gave you advantages, but Sasuke felt his tongue go numb in his confliction. Gaara was patient though and continued to wait for him. The raven took in a deep breath and looked out across the hall to see Sakura talking with Naruto and then Kabuto pulled the blonde away. He shook his head and turned back to the situation at hand.

"I shouldn't have distanced myself from you, I didn't do it because I was weirded out that you like me; I did it because I don't know how I feel about this or how to deal with any of this." He sighed and looked over to Gaara, he looked curious and narrowed his eyes at the raven.

"You don't know how you feel? About what?" Sasuke shrugged but he felt Gaara grab his arm. "What is 'this' that you are trying to deal with?"

Sasuke swallowed, he figured he and Gaara would eventually talk about crushes or maybe even the lack of crushes but he really hadn't thought of them ever talking about each other in this way. "I don't know if I like you like that." He whispered out as a group walked by a bit too close for comfort.

Somehow this made Gaara look less tense than before. "Good, I thought you were unsure if you wanted to be friends anymore." Sasuke rose an eyebrow at his friend in obvious confusion. "I don't expect you to like me back in order for us to keep being friends. It's ok, and if your confused I won't push you to chose anything." Gaara gave the smallest of rare smiles and Sasuke felt a lot of the weight in is stomach vanish. The bell rang and Gaara's smile vanished but Sasuke continued to feel better as he stood up and gave Gaara a small squeeze on the shoulder before they both walked to their class.

The nice feeling from his and Gaara's talk depleted pretty quickly while spending two classes listening to the new students throw taunts at him every time he walked by and was tripped in the hall. This caused a few girls to help him gather his stuff but after that they wouldn't leave him alone; this wasn't as bad but still frustrating which just added to his fractured nerves. He repeated to himself that this was stuff he dealt with normally and it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. It wasn't until right before lunch that things got maybe a bit too out of hand.

Sasuke was walking through an old hallway that only a few students used since it was the long way to the cafeteria and only held rooms to store things in. He had his headphones in and was just trying to hurry to lunch when he suddenly felt a jolt from behind and landed on the floor on his hands and knees. He quickly ripped his headphones out and glared up at the person that shoved him. It was one of kabuto's friends. The sound of a door closing caught Sasuke's attention and when he looked behind the figure above him he saw another grunt and Kabuto walk in.

"Hey buddy, how was the talk with your boyfriend today?" Sasuke didn't answer as he got back up onto his feet. "Don't be like that you queer." The cretin stepped closer and Sasuke froze when he heard the derogative slur and felt his body turn icy. Still he didn't say anything but locked glares with Kabuto.

"I don't think it knows how to speak."

"Ew what if it likes you."

"Ugh gross, do you think his father's made him like that?"

Sasuke tried to keep the other two grunt's conversation out of his head but their stupidity needled its way under his skin. He clenched his fists at his sides and focused on Kabuto in front of him instead of the idiots sanding behind him. It had turned out to be a mistake when he felt a painful jerk as the thugs each grabbed his arms and held him up and in place.

Sasuke hissed at the pain and jerked around as much as he could to try to free himself but was stopped by another more severe sharp pain and a 'pop' noise. He grunted as the pain from what he assumed was a punch spread through the left side of his jaw. His hair was in his face and the position he was being held in made him feel panicky and unable to catch his breath. He felt smothered, helpless, and a lot like he was about to black out.

"Poor stupid Naruto doesn't know when to shut up does he? Believe me I know, I've only been around him for a couple months and already I'm planning the day I get him to shut up. See though, I can't have you thinking you can hurt him though. You should never lay your disgusting emo hands on my merchandise."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke spat having enough of this drawn out spewl. "Naruto isn't your anything." A metallic taste spread through his mouth.

A cruel smile formed on Kabuto's face. "He is though, you see, a few whispers here a few bribes there and before we knew it Naruto had been the key to everything. People trust him and his ignorant honest face. I can get anywhere I want so long as we have Naruto to tell the lies we make him believe. He really is a silly little kid. As for you though, you should stay away from him. I don't need you wrecking his appearance with people after I've worked so hard to make him the reliable and popular person he is now."

One of the grunts squeezed on Sasuke's arm causing the raven to wince but he felt the moment he loosened the grip that he had loosened it just enough so the Sasuke could twist out of his grip. With a painful tug and a kick back Sasuke had managed to free one of his arms and was pleased to find he had kicked the other in the crotch. Unfortunately, Kabuto had taken this moment to swing again and got him in the gut. His wind left him and water came to his eyes but he pushed himself forward and managed to tackle the upperclassmen to the ground.

The hallway door sounded but it wasn't help coming it was just the other two running away like the little shits that Sasuke knew they were. "I didn't know you had it in you." Kabuto started as they wrestled each other. "I figure you were just a delicate little gay boy, too busy contracting diseases to actually try to fight back." Sasuke knew this was just Kabuto trying to psych him out, it wasn't working though. Sasuke had put up with this asshole's shit for too long and he wasn't about to let this moment slip by. He punched Kabuto as many times as he could in any place he could reach.

At one-point Kabuto did manage to kick him off, only because Sasuke didn't want to get kicked in the crotch and shifted so that the kick contacted his chest instead. Kabuto got to his feet talking the entire time. "You should be ashamed of the shamble of a wanna be family you have. If your disgusting family wasn't bad enough, you're a lonely orphan that no one wanted so they threw you to a queer. "Kabuto wiped at his bloodied lip and Sasuke grinned at him in pride. "Same as Naruto, maybe your entire family is tainted. It's no wonder Naruto's been acting like a pouty emo recently, he lives with you."

Sasuke felt himself shaking as he stood and could barely register Kabuto's mocking laughter in his near blind anger. Something switched inside him that took pressure from his lungs and made his shaking stop. Instead, he laughed. He laughed at the stupid situation he was in, laughed at the fact that he was honestly ever bothered by this guy, laughed because he was going to enjoy beating the shit out of him. Once he was done laughing he brushed his hair back to see better, Kabuto had taken a more defensive stance and wasn't even smiling anymore.

"Kabuto, just shut your inbred homophobic mouth." Sasuke remembered lunging for Kabuto, remembered pinning him at some point and swinging both his fists at the bully's face, and he remembered smelling and tasting blood as someone tried to pull him away; other than that he couldn't remember much except that the nurse had seen him and then rushed away leaving him sitting alone in the principal's office. The shaking feeling was back and he didn't feel that disconnected calm anymore but still felt a lot less nervous than he figured he should.

When the door opened and closed with a slam Sasuke wasn't really all that surprised. The current principle, Ms. Marlow, was known for being a hard ass and completely unfair, usually ruling situation based on her favourite student or on her personal beliefs. "Sasuke, Uchiha is it, why are you in my office today?" She sat down behind her desk and glared down at a file basically explaining exactly why Sasuke was in her office with a swelling bruise on his face. Figuring that was enough of an answer Sasuke didn't answer and decided to save himself the pain.

She snorted at him like a bull and opened up the file and shook her head as she read. She hadn't even finished reading the report when the door opened again and Sasuke immediately felt himself relax as Iruka came in looking a bit dazed and confused, and to be honest only partially put together. The principle looked up and put on a false smile and stood to shake Iruka's hand. "Mr. Uchiha, I'm so glad you could join us." That made Sasuke smirk.

Iruka smiled back at her with nothing but politeness. "I am not actually related to Sasuke. You can call me Iruka, thank you." Iruka hadn't been around to hear what kabuto had said so Sasuke tried to not take Iruka's disassociation to him, blood-wise, to heart. Besides any hurt that Iruka may have unintentionally caused was forgotten when the brunette finally turned to look down at Sasuke. Instantly he was there running his hands over the raven in a panic mumbling questions and fussing over him all but crying when Sasuke winced. It honestly made Sasuke feel better about the entire ordeal to have Iruka there and so clearly caring for him and worried about his well being.

To Sasuke's disgust, however, the principle cleared her throat to regain Iruka's attention and plastered on that fake smile once more. "Since we have separated Mr. Sasuke and Mr. Kabuto, neither have said exactly why they were in a fight. Kabuto's case is understandable, he was knocked out and his face is swollen nearly shut." She gave a stern look to Sasuke who smirked unapologetic-ally as pride filled him. "Sasuke can you tell us what happened now that your, uh" She gestured to Iruka unsure as to what his title would be.

Sasuke, feeling as vindictive as he was right then, made sure to speak before Iruka would. "My dad." Iruka and the principle's eyes widened and they examined Sasuke who was sure to keep his scowl on the principle. "He's my dad, and Kakashi is my father." It was still and silent until the brunette made a small coughing noise and then nodded and turned back to the angered plump lady before him.

She almost seemed scandalized as she looked back and forth between Iruka and Sasuke. The scandalized look on her face made Sasuke want to smirk but he knew better than to show how pleasing this scene was. From the corner of his eye he could see Iruka cross his arms like he did whenever he was about to lecture someone, just like that the batty principle straitened herself to hide the obvious look of shock. Clearing her throat, she tried again for the higher authority tone she usually tried to parade around with. "Sasuke, can you tell us why the fight happened? If we don't know then we can't make sure it doesn't happen again."

As much as the raven was enjoying seeing Iruka get defensive with the principle he really didn't want to go into this part of the meeting. He would much prefer simply being suspended than to actually go into details. As if the woman actually cared, she was only trying to incriminate Sasuke in front of Iruka. Sasuke scoffed and rolled his eyes at the thought but winced when Iruka took hold of his ear, he really didn't have a choice. He sighed and kept his eyes just over the principle's shoulder as he began. "That ingrate said that I should be ashamed of my wanna be family. Not only am I a lonely orphan, but my guardians are faggots. So I told him he needed to shut his inbred mouth before I knocked him on his ass. He also said that he wouldn't be surprised if I turned out to be a disgusting homo and contracted a disease. So I punched him. A couple of his idiotic friends grabbed me and he got a few hits in, but when I got loose his supposed 'friends' took off as I beat the ever loving shit out of him, "Sasuke paused to make eye contact with the principle. "for talking bad about my family and me." Sasuke finished off with a smile on his face and the same pleased feeling as earlier to see the horrified look Ms. Marlow was giving him. He knew she weren't upset about Sasuke being attacked, no, they were upset because this was the first incident where it was clearly stated that Iruka and Kakashi were together. Naruto really wasn't joking, people weren't kind about this type of thing. Although this had been the first outright negative thing said or done, most people tiptoed around it or flat out ignored the fact that Sasuke and Naruto were obviously living together because their male parents were together.

While Iruka did look upset based from the small glance Sasuke risked it was nothing like the enraged look Ms. Marlow was sporting as she stuttered over her speechlessness. Finally, she settled a hand to cup her cheek as if to further show her shock, Sasuke wasn't buying this act. "That is an outrage; we cannot allow that at our school." Iruka nodded but Sasuke watched on with suspicion. "What he said was out of line and not any of his business; however, you should not have laid a hand on another student. He could have been seriously hurt, you are lucky his parents don't plan on taking this to court. Sasuke you are the last person I would have expected this kind of conduct from, Kiba or Naruto maybe but not you." She glared at Sasuke who sunk back into his seat to keep himself from launching himself into an argument that he would surely lose in the long run. The whole reason he was in this situation was defending Naruto of all people, he wasn't about to defend the idiot anymore to risk further punishment.

"Excuse you?" The plump principle and Sasuke turned to Iruka. Even though that fierce glare and cold tone wasn't meant for the raven he felt himself sink further into his seat. "Are you telling Sasuke that he was more in the wrong at this point than the other child that had been bullying him? Or are you scolding him because he needs to be set straight since violence is never the answer." Iruka tapped his foot as if impatient for the answer and crossed his arms as Ms. Marlow gaped at him. The woman bulged her eyes and turned red as she pointed her finger up and opened her mouth to explain but Iruka interrupted before she could speak a word. "As for your expectancies, I'll have you know Kiba and Naruto are very fine young men, just as Sasuke is. I should know, Naruto is my son" All the art supplies in the world for a camera at that moment would have been a deal Sasuke would have made to capture this moment. The look the principle wore was something Sasuke never wanted to forget in it hilarity, her eyes widened in shock, her mouth opening and closing, all colour vanishing from her face, Sasuke was even sure a whimper escaped the haggard lady. "And Kiba is around enough for me to know that he is a good boy. Maybe a bit mischievous, but hardly a bad kid." Sasuke watched Iruka, who had at some point strode over to stand over the desk separating him and the principle, He knew Iruka wasn't one to be messed with but wow.

"Iruka, I"

"Mr. Umino" Iruka corrected harshly. Sasuke sat up with a smile, he felt bad for those who didn't get to watch this. Naruto would have loved to put this in his list of stories.

"Mr. Umino" She huffed trying to gain any height she could and reassert herself. "I will reprimand each student at fault here. As I said Kabuto was out of line in what he said. We have a no bullying policy, but what Sasuke did was physically attack another student over a matter that could have been dealt with in a civilized manner. We could have started covering up his family facts from the other students and-" She was cut off by Iruka holding out a hand to stop her. Sasuke had never seen him so angry and willing to engage in a confrontation.

A sarcastic smirk appeared on Iruka's face and he held his head to the side in mock confusion. "Did I just hear you say, you could fix this by covering up Sasuke's home life? As in hiding the fact that his guardians are in a gay relationship from other students?" Iruka kept his narrowed eyes on the principle trying desperately to find her words once more.

"Well yes, that is a way to keep that information away from people that find it disturbing or distracting." She curled her lip around disturbing, it made Sasuke clench his fists in anger; he really hated this woman. "If that is what is causing the violence, then that is what should be taken care of."

Iruka clicked his tongue and leaned in just a bit more, his smirk seemed poisonous somehow. Sasuke couldn't help the small smile as he watched this argument unfold. "Like you, do you find the fact that I am in a homosexual relationship disturbing and distracting?" Sasuke bit his lip to hold back his laugh. This couldn't be the Iruka that couldn't even handle publically holding hands could it? For a moment Sasuke considered pinching himself, maybe he was still passed out.

She gave a false smile and shrugged. "This isn't about my opinion; this is about Sasuke's fight. He hurt that child, how do we know he won't do it again?" Sasuke glared at her with all of his might and was actually about to get up and make a defense for himself when he heard Iruka speak up with a bite to his voice that had him sitting back in his seat and the principle taking a step back.

"He hurt that child like that child hurt him. It wouldn't have happened at all if that little snot nosed brat would have had proper manners put into him, and if your system didn't try to hide away things that you don't find 'normal' it wouldn't happen to anyone. Hiding away a home life, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!" It didn't take long for Iruka to be speaking at too quick a pace for Sasuke to really focus on in his stunned manor. If he thought Naruto would have liked to have been around for earlier he was sure Naruto would have enjoyed this even more. They always joked about Iruka being fierce and scarier than anyone else but only now was Sasuke seeing that Iruka really could live up to such a reputation. He had apparently spaced out since he was suddenly being yanked up by Iruka who was marching to the door still running on about apparently stopping at the board of education to report this entire incident.

The grip Iruka had on his arm was intense but once they were out of Ms. Marlow's office Iruka let him go and stomped out from around the main desk and out the front doors. As he tried to catch up with his rampaging guardian Sasuke saw the secretary smirking. He smirked right back as he walked, even threw a smirk towards Ino and Sakura, who stood in shock, he was in a good mood after all.

After a bit of a talk in the parking lot to which Sasuke altered parts of his story, trying to keep Naruto out of trouble, they headed for some food and drinks. The raven felt bad for not telling Iruka about everything that had been said but he wasn't lying at least. He gave a small smile as Iruka continued to rant on the way home in shaking from adrenalin and frustration. He wavered in his resolve when Iruka started making a list of calls he was going to make to ensure that this would be dealt with and had even told Sasuke that he would take care of everything. He repeated to himself that he wasn't lying and that he would just cause more work for Iruka if he told him about Naruto's friends tricking him into doing bad things. He would just tell Naruto and then hopefully not get called a liar.

As they sat around the table waiting for Kakashi Iruka and Sasuke talked about a lot of things, not even about the fight. They talked about books, shows, what was happening with Mr. Gai, gossiped about Kurenai and Asuka. It was relaxing and it made Sasuke feel better despite the bruises. Now just to wait for Naruto to come in and shatter their moment of peace.

As expected Naruto entered the house after school in a less than pleased mood and had immediately headed for Sasuke. The raven prepared himself for the onslaught. "Sasuke! Where are you?" Naruto appeared in the kitchen and zeroed in on the raven standing by the counter with an expressionless face. "What the hell do you call that today? I meant seriously what the fuck?"

Sasuke could feel himself his body tensing for a fight but bit back his jerk reaction to get angry. After everything today he really didn't feel up to fighting, especially not in front of Iruka. As clearly and as calmly as he could Sasuke explained. "I beat the shit out of a kid that disrespected my family." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blond who was seething mad.

A disgusted noise sounded from Naruto who rolled his eyes. "Oh please get out of here with your stupid Uchiha pride!" Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the collar and pulled them so that they were nose to nose. "What's wrong with this family, eh? You know this isn't even about family! Why did you beat up my friend? Did he not agree with you, did he say something that upset your delicate feelings, is that it?" Naruto ranted on, the whole time Sasuke just stood there waiting for him to finish, trying to block out the harmful words coming from the blonde who obviously hadn't heard the entire story.

Of course he had a breaking point, there was only so much someone could take in one day. "They insulted us Naruto! They insulted our family, all of us! Even you, dumbass! Your stupid 'friends' said you were going to turn into an emo fag like everyone in the school thinks I am. That's why I fought him, that's why I kicked his ass. I would have kicked the other guys' asses to but they ran off, cowards." Sasuke huffed when he was done but refused to break eye contact as realization flooded Naruto's crystal blue eyes. The blonde slowly released the front of his shirt, a look of shock and understanding on his face. Sasuke patted down his shirt and glared, not feeling the smallest amount of sympathy for the idiot that hadn't believed him in the first place about those people.

The blond swallowed and took a shaky breath. "W-what did they say about our family?" Naruto was trembling and his fists were held tightly to his side. "Tell me Sasuke! When and what was said?" Before Sasuke could even think about telling him anything Naruto grabbed hold of his wrist and marched out of the room and to the front door. "I'm taking Sasuke for a walk! We're gonna go visit Rusty!" Naruto yelled jerking Sasuke through the door and closing it with a slam.

"Wait Naruto who is Rusty?" Naruto marched and stormed away a bit like Iruka, but instead of releasing his death grip on Sasuke like Iruka had the blonde kept a tight grip. Sasuke allowed it for the first three minutes but when they got further down the street where he knew someone would see them he started to pull at his wrist. He grimaced when Naruto didn't take the hint to drop his wrist and started prying at the tan fingers biting into his skin. Finally, Naruto turned around and looked at his wrist as if just realizing that he had been dragging and ignoring Sasuke this entire time.

He loosened his grip but didn't let go. A sigh escaped him and he kept his head down as they continued walking at a more meandering pace so he wasn't full out dragging the raven. Sasuke still didn't want to be seen like this and didn't think Naruto would appreciate his own action in the future if they were seen by the wrong person. He stepped a bit closer and pulled his wrist from Naruto's grip but made sure to keep their arms touching. It seemed to be good enough for the blonde as they continued their silent walk to wherever it was that Naruto was taking them.

After a little while Naruto sighed and broke their silence. "I'm sorry." Sasuke shrugged, not sure what Naruto was apologizing for. They stopped at an old gate that Naruto easily scaled over and then turned to look through the bars expectantly at Sasuke. "I know you aren't in a sport but I know you are strong enough to get yourself over the fence."

"No." Sasuke looked up the gate and then past the blonde where he saw an older run down house. "I am not breaking onto someone else's property. Why are we here?" Sasuke glared as Naruto laughed lightly. "What?"

"I guess technically Iruka owns this land. We were the last people to live here but the house was old and falling apart so we moved and no one else as lived here since. That was a long time ago to. Come on, loser." That definitely wasn't how realestate worked but Sasuke didn't feel like arguing with Naruto about it. Instead Sasuke narrowed his eyes in defiance but felt his competitiveness build and so shakily scaled the fence and marched past Naruto who chuckled. Sasuke chose to ignore that and look around.

The area was nice, a little small and run down but Sasuke could definitely see where this had at one point been a nice place to live. The grass was taller than everyone else's but it was lush and green. The house was two stories, white, and had a nice porch with columns and an overhang. While he was wondering near the front door to get a peek inside the building he saw the blonde move to a tree and kneel beneath it. "What are you doing?" He called from where he was standing not more than three feet away.

"Paying respects to my old dog. He was the coolest. One time he brought Iruka the newspaper without even being told to. Iruka didn't like that though 'cause it was super slobbery." Sasuke made his way to stand next to the blonde. Standing this close to the tree he could see a small lopsided and weathered cross sticking out of the ground with the name "Rusty" written on it. "I am pretty sure he was better than any of Kiba's dogs."

"He was probably better than Kiba." To the raven's surprise Naruto didn't get defensive but shook his head with a grin. It made him feel upset for a reason he couldn't put his finger on. He tried to pinpoint why but didn't have the energy to focus too hard on it. He swallowed and tried to enjoy the silence but couldn't bring himself to do so. "Why are we here?" He winced at the snap in his voice, he didn't want to cause a fight. He had enough of that for one day.

Thankfully Naruto didn't seem to be angry as he stood and sighed yet again. If anything he looked sad and maybe a little reluctant. "Listen Sasuke." He placed a hand on the raven's shoulder and sighed again. He grit his teeth and looked up to make eye contact with Sasuke. "I brought you here because I wanted to walk off my anger and also because I wanted you to tell me exactly what happened but now all I want to do is tell you that I am sorry. Very very sorry for not listening to you and not being there for you. I've been an asshole recently and I should have laid off, especially since I know about you and Gaara's fight."

At that the raven grit his teeth, he hadn't known his fight with Gaara was known by anyone other than himself and the redhead. "It isn't a fight. Besides we dealt with that already." Sasuke bit his lip and looked back towards the tree. He wasn't sure how he felt about talking with Naruto about his and Gaara's relationship issues.

"Either way." Naruto leaned over to catch Sasuke's eyes again, his hand still resting on Sasuke's arm. "I'm really sorry. So go on." Naruto released Sasuke and took a step out with his arms held out wide. "Do it."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow. "Do what?"

"I don't know, Slug me, Yell, Rant, Whatever you -oof!" Naruto gripped around his stomach where Sasuke had punched him without hesitation, and gagged a bit. He sort of knew that was coming but had really hoped Sasuke would have stuck with yelling or maybe just some shoves.

Sasuke felt himself fill with anger all over again even after hitting the blonde. He refrained from hitting him again but he wasn't about to let Naruto get off the hook so easily. Suddenly he realized why that peaceful moment earlier upset him, it was because he was very angry at the blonde and was only just now expressing it. "You completely screwed up you know that! Of all the times to be an idiot, you are the worst Uzumaki!" There was a good chance that literally anyone could hear all of this but Sasuke didn't care; he was shaking and felt his eyes stinging as he yelled at the blonde who was just then recovering. "I hope you know they were using you, and were planning on throwing you under the bus at any day now. But no, you didn't care what I had to say, not at all. You just had to go and leave with them, leave me! All alone!"

Sasuke breathed in deeply feeling light headed and dizzy. There were black dots in his sight and he leaned forward glad that Naruto caught him since he was sure he would have landed on the ground. When he didn't think he was going to pass out again he mumbled out a few more insults and Naruto eased them to sitting in the grass but wouldn't let go. He hated that Naruto was coddling him, hated that he allowed it, hated everything. Eventually he pushed away but was sure Naruto had felt the wetness on his shirt from the stray tears that had slipped from his eyes.

Eventually he explained everything that had happened during the fight which had Naruto cursing and spitting out insults as the story went on. After that He retold what happened in Ms. Marlow's office to which the blonde whooped loudly and whined about how unfair it was to not have been there to see. Naruto went on to dominate the conversation and at first was ranting about how he was done with them, then to how Kiba had stolen his seat next to Sakura, and then at some point had started a session of cloud watching with Sasuke leaning back against the blondes left side. It was nice, if nothing else, and eased Sasuke away from the complete breakdown he had nearly slipped into.

It didn't slip Sasuke's mind that this wasn't how they normally acted and it made him suspicious that Naruto was only allowing this because he felt bad for everything that happened. Really the raven could care less, he knew he deserved a few moments of peace and if that meant talking with Naruto about the day or other random bits while resting against him then so be it. He was thankful for it even if it was out of pity, and he was especially thankful that Naruto hadn't pointed out the tears that would randomly appear in-between topics.


	7. A Bit Much

Considering what all had went down that day Naruto was pretty ok with how the day was ending. Sasuke had actually spent longer than a few minutes with him, and after the yelling and getting punched thing they had managed to have a conversation and the raven had even laughed at one of the blonde's stories. When they started to hear crickets and saw the clouds begin to grey they had decided it was time to go back. Naruto had felt like there was more that Sasuke wanted to say or ask but he wasn't sure he wanted to push the raven to say more than he was ready or willing to so he kept silent all the way home.

Silent outwardly that is, during the walk Naruto still thought a lot on what had been happening since the beginning of the school year. He felt like shit during everything, wanted to apologize to Sasuke, and had even been so ashamed and awkward at some times that he couldn't look at the raven. Now though he felt even worse, he had technically caused all of this and could have put an end to the other stuff all along. Sasuke always glared but Naruto could tell he was going through things but he hadn't been there for him and now that he saw it had led to the fight he felt even worse. Sure they weren't best friends or anything but Naruto knew better than to think that he and Sasuke weren't friends at the very least and as the very least a friend should have been there for Sasuke, especially when he heard about the Gaara situation.

Naruto flinched involuntarily when Gaara came to mind. Gaara definitely knew how to be an ass but he was civil for the most part unless provoked. Which Kiba of course had done plenty of times while Sasuke and Gaara were not talking which made it that much harder when Naruto would steal away from the loud brunette to try to get Gaara to tell him what was going on with the raven. The first time he tried to talk to him the redhead had just turned on his heels and walked the longer way to class, which was very rude and Naruto was not having it. The second try was bad luck seeing as Kiba had apparently pissed of the boy right before Naruto's attempt at a conversation. He hadn't even gotten a chance to fix a smile on his face before Gaara had gotten in his face and told him to keep his idiot friends to his self. Naruto would be lying if he said he hadn't been the smallest bit of petrified and stunned as the shorter boy stomped away. To think that Gaara was Sasuke's best friend, it honestly made him rethink why he wasn't scared of Sasuke himself.

The third time was the last time he had spoken to Gaara. Thankfully the third time really must have been the charm since Gaara had finally broke and told Naruto what happened, Naruto probably wouldn't have bothered him again if he hadn't in all honesty though. The kid was terrifying when he wanted to be. He decided that for his third approach he would try to be what Sasuke would call polite and civilized. He sent Gaara a request to meet him after class via passing a note and was sure to say how important it was. Naruto had even been sure to use all of his artistic ability to draw the most pouty pout face he could muster, y'know, just in case a sincere request wasn't enough.

He waited outside the class room for the redhead and plastered on the most pleasant smile he could when he saw Gaara step out of the room and cautiously step towards the blonde. "Hey Gaara, sorry if this is out of your way and everything. I mean you've probably got something going on and I'm here wasting all your time and such and um, well."

"You want to know what's up with Sasuke?" Gaara had asked plainly. Naruto chuckled realizing he had been babbling and nodded his head. Gaara sighed and nodded his head to a bench against the wall away from the majority of the teens roaming the halls. Naruto had barely sat down when Gaara had blurted out that he had kissed Sasuke and that the raven hadn't taken it well. "He hasn't properly spoken one word to me since then, so no, I don't know what's up with Sasuke because I don't think we are friends anymore." Gaara had seemed even more troubled than he usually did and it made Naruto feel for him since that was also when he and Sasuke had stopped really speaking.

As strange as it felt to do so Naruto tried his best to cheer up Gaara and encourage him to talk with Sasuke and clear up anything that is messed up between them. He Didn't tell the teen that Sasuke had told him about the kiss since it seemed Gaara was sure Sasuke wouldn't have. Gaara had even smiled a bit when he had told him that Sasuke was probably just brooding and being a stubborn jackass like always. That talk had been had been a while ago and not long after that he noticed Sasuke talking with Gaara again which made him honestly feel a bit jealous but happy that he could help. He wished it was that easy between himself and Sasuke.

"Are you coming in or not?" Sasuke asked from within the door frame of their front door. The blonde blinked, not having realized they were already home, and hurried into the house.

As soon as he entered the entrance way he could hear and smell Kakashi cooking. "Oh man do you smell that? That smells delicious." Naruto leaned against Sasuke and patted his belly when it gurgled in agreement,

"Naruto, get off you lard." Sasuke shoved Naruto who laughed and walked into the kitchen to snoop on what Kakashi was cooking. He had in a way expected that of Sasuke but also wondered if it was only ok to be close in that moment after Sasuke hit him. Was that the only time Sasuke would let him hug or lean on him? After he's slugged Naruto? Naruto crinkled his nose at the thought; he was not about to let the raven beat him just to get a hug here and there, hugs were not that important.

He really didn't feel like continuing down that track of thoughts so Naruto bounded up to Kakashi and decided to distract himself for the moment with the amazing food that Kakashi was messing around with. "Kakashi what are you cooking it smells amazing! Oh man that looks amazing." Naruto was practically drooling at the sight of the food. He saw Sasuke shake his head at him in his peripheral and saw him digging around in the fridge. He suddenly had a flash to the night before with the kiss and felt his cheeks colour. The last twenty-four hours had been intense hadn't it. He had almost forgotten that they had bumped into each other just last night.

He shook his head slightly and instead smirked at the raven. "hey Sasuke, you really like tomatoes right?" Kakashi handed him a bowl and pointe to the table and Naruto obeyed as Sasuke turned around to glare daggers at him. At least he wasn't the only one that remembered the incident. "They're your very favourite yeah?" Sasuke grabbed some silverware to busy himself but made a sound of agreement. "Would it affect you if I told you that Choji sucks the insides out and throws away the rest of the tomato." That was a lie of course but after so long of not being able to mess with Sasuke he needed to get a head start.

Sasuke flinched but shook his head, an obvious fib if the blonde ever saw one. "Sasuke, why did the tomato blush?" Sasuke only glared harder at the table. "Cause it saw the salad dressing. Ba-dum-ts!" Naruto laughed to himself as Sasuke let out a long and pained sigh. Sasuke finally got done setting the silver ware and headed to the fridge to get a water. "Oh oh, here's another. I dropped a ketchup bottle on my foot the other day. It caused a lot of pain to muh toes. Get it, I said 'to my toes' and it sounded like 'tomatoes'. C'mon Sasu these are hilarious."

"They aren't." He droned without hesitation and took a sip of his water.

Naruto pouted and puffed out his cheeks at the raven who just turned away with a roll of his eyes. Before Sasuke could get too far though Naruto wrapped his arms around his waist and leaned all of his weight against him and whined "You're just a meanie." This had seemed like a good idea until Sasuke immediately started beating Naruto with the water bottle he had been holding. Naruto started laughing so hard that he couldn't stand up properly and slid a bit as Sasuke pushed at him and yelled for him to stop trying to be cute when he was almost an adult.

The blonde had just managed to get control of himself when Kakashi waved and got his attention, the two turned to the doorway leading into the living room and saw that Kakashi was pointing to Iruka, who was holding up a phone and taking photos or a video. Sasuke was the first to react and quickly shoved Naruto away causing the blonde to lose his new found balance for a second. He glared at the other teen from the corner of his eyes but chuckled off the awkward and run up to his parent after he put the phone down. "Iruka! I hear you're the sass master! Thank you for being an awesome father figure and telling off the stupidest person ever to walk this earth."

"What are you talking about Kitsune?" Naruto turned back and glared at Sasuke for using the nickname he hated most, just more proof that Sasuke was an asshole and Naruto had imagined that nice moment they had only a few minutes ago. "Iruka hasn't told you off today." Sasuke's smirk widened at Naruto's face of disbelief.

"Teme! What the heck? You jerk!" Naruto furrowed his brow in determination and started after Sasuke. He wasn't going to beat him up, he knew Sasuke didn't need that now off all things and was probably going to be soar enough in the morning. Instead he had planned on hugging Sasuke again, obviously that was worse for Sasuke than anything he's ever done in the past. He didn't actually get very far before he felt Iruka tug gently at his hair in warning and then to guide him to the table which he obliged, he was pretty hungry and Kakashi didn't get to cook very often so this was a treat.

Once the food was sat down and everyone was in their seats Naruto started to reach for the serving spatula but yelped when a hand smacked his away. It hadn't hurt but Naruto played it up by cradling his hand and sending Iruka his most hurt and betrayed face. "Not yet."

Not yet? Naruto looked over to Kakashi who looked amused and back to Iruka. "What? Why not! Are we going to start praying? C'mon I'm hungry!" Iruka rolled his eyes and was about to say something but Sasuke had spoken up before he could get his words out.

"Is there something that needs to be said?" Sasuke asked tilting his chin upwards and raising an eyebrow. Naruto looked at Sasuke in confusion, if he was doing the eyebrow thing to Iruka and Kakashi then he must know something is up. He looked across the table to Iruka and Kakashi, while Kakashi looked normal, Iruka did seem a bit tenser. In all honesty though it may just be because Sasuke and Kakashi were doing that thing where they try to intimidate each other. It was kind of intense and the room gets a weird and eerie atmosphere. Naruto glanced at Iruka as he tried to sit up straighter in his chair.

"We only need to discuss something. A good debate if you will." Kakashi said to answer Sasuke's questions. Sasuke nodded sharply and as if on que both he and Kakashi turned to face the other two at the table. Iruka and Naruto took another glance to each other. It was really scary when Kakashi and Sasuke went head to head like that. Naruto shivered and gave up on sitting straight, he just wasn't made for that life.

"Well, first we will focus on what has been happening this last week. You guys seem to have been building some tension and then suddenly this morning you exploded. Then at school Sasuke got into a fight." Naruto felt that was an unfair connection since he hadn't even been the main cause of that, or rather he hadn't meant to be the main cause. He side eyed Sasuke and felt guilt when he saw the bruising on Sasuke's face.

"Even Iruka got into a fight, huh, dad?" Sasuke interrupted Iruka with a smirk and Iruka smiled a bit before continuing.

"We want to know why you guys were about to tear each other's throats out this morning. I also feel that we need to talk about these friends of yours Naruto." At that Naruto's eyes narrowed and he seemed to recede into his mind as thoughts of his fake friends filled his mind. He still couldn't believe they had played him and he had believed them this entire time. How many rules had he broke and people he helped them hurt? He felt like he was going to be sick.

No wonder he and Sasuke's relationship had regressed so drastically. The blonde felt like an ass of all asses, he hated himself. A sharp pain spread out through his shoulder and back with a loud 'thwak'. Naruto turned a fierce glare to Sasuke who had just smacked him but the raven didn't even flinch. The only thing he had to say for himself was a mumbled 'Dobe'. At first that only made the blonde more aggravated but he stopped himself from lashing out and studied the raven's face. He had a weird look on his face but it was determined looking and it somehow calmed Naruto. He looked back over to his guardians still obviously upset but felt that he could keep most of the negative thoughts away for now.

"They are not my friends. They never really were. My friend is Kiba." Naruto crossed his arms and Sasuke unconsciously gave a slight nod. The blonde was very thankful that his voice hadn't broke or anything.

Naruto felt himself start to wonder back into his thoughts but shook his head and focused back in on the conversation or whatever this was. "Okay kids, this is how this I gonna go down. All you have to do is spill your guts and we will let you eat and go about life. If we think you're lying your grounded and if we think you've held back some information we will start separate interrogations until someone gives in." Kakashi said smiling to which Naruto felt extremely under attack. Surely Iruka wouldn't let this actually happen, especially with how Kakashi was smiling like a creep. He looked over to Sasuke who didn't seem as worried as Naruto felt but the bastard always looked unperturbed by everything.

"Just tell us what made you guys so angry with each other this morning for now." Iruka said after clearing his throat and giving Kakashi a warning look.

Sasuke and Naruto looked over at each other, Sasuke frowned which made Naruto frown as they thought about running into each other and then the, Sasuke says, lip lock. Naruto felt a bit offended when Sasuke nearly looked disgusted and so formed his own face to look just as disgusted and then turned away indignantly.

"Naruto, is that red on your face that I see." The blond immediately looked up horrified and covered his face, he couldn't believe Iruka was betraying him like this. "So this has nothing to do with being embarrassed does it." Iruka glanced over to Sasuke who hadn't moved. Naruto turned away and shook his head 'no'. this was definitely not fair, this was unnatural, this was wrong in every single way. Was this his punishment for hanging with the wrong crowd? Maybe Iruka was bitten by a werewolf, or a vampire or something and that's why today he got into a fight and is now denying his child food. Naruto decided Iruka was definitely a vampire now.

Kakashi leaned forward and chuckled lightly at Naruto's reaction to Iruka's little tease. "Are you sure Naru 'cause at this rate I'm not sure if I can see your tan anymore." Naruto glared up at Kakashi who had caught on to what Iruka was getting at, why were they picking on him? Sasuke was just right beside him, they could have picked on the raven. "You almost look like a tomato." Naruto saw Kakashi look over at Sasuke and it honestly made it a little easier to breath and helped him calm down a bit. This family was going to kill him. "What about you Sasuke, is there something your embarrassed about?"

Sasuke turned his head away without an answer and Naruto watched him with a sad expression. He wasn't as good at hiding his emotions like Sasuke was. Iruka caught Naruto's attention again and smiled brightly. The last time Iruka had pried information from Naruto it took an hour and a half, by the time Naruto was allowed to go about his own business he only had enough energy to get to his room to sleep. If anyone knew how good Iruka was at getting his way it was Naruto, he was just lucky Iruka didn't do it aften.

"Sasuke I will take your art supplies away." Kakashi's suddenly serious tone caught Naruto off guard as much as it did Sasuke. The raven suddenly turned to Kakashi with a fierce glare. "And any book you have that has nothing to do with school work will be forbidden."

With each of Kakashi's threats Sasuke clenched his fists tighter. Naruto watched him worriedly. "What makes you think this is a serious enough case to take actions such as that?" Sasuke asked in a surprisingly calm voice for how much panic shone through his eyes and how white his knuckles were as he clenched them in his lap. "What if you both are just over reacting to a simple fight between Naruto and I?" Naruto took note at the way Sasuke tilted his chin up again, he wondered if that ever worked for Sasuke. He only ever saw Sasuke do it with Kabuto, Kakashi, and sometimes with the teachers.

There was a smirk slowly forming on Kakashi's face as he leaned forward. "If it was something so simple you would have been done with it by now Sasuke. I know you don't have time to deal with small disturbances." Kakashi cocked his head to the side as he and Sasuke stared at each other and that weird atmosphere appeared again. Naruto squirmed in his seat feeling awkward and intrusive just being there. "Besides Sasuke, anytime I get such a reaction like this, it's always entertaining to learn the reason behind it."

Just like that the battle ended, Iruka and Naruto weren't sure who won. Both fell back into their seats and looked away from each other. Kakashi smiled to Iruka and Sasuke glared at the table which probably meant Kakashi won, but Sasuke hadn't said anything, which could also mean that Sasuke won. Iruka let out a sigh and Naruto inwardly agreed. He was pretty hungry and very muchly so pass disturbed, and just in general today has been too eventful for him

"I can't ask for a bathroom break can I?" Naruto mumbled wiggling in is seat to try selling that he actually needed the toilet.

"If you can hurry then go on and get back soon." Naruto was so stunned that the answer had been yes that he barely registers that Kakashi waved before he's jetted out of the room.

He bad it to the bathroom and was sure to lock the door and sit on the side of the tub. How could he get out of this? Maybe if they just stop talking all together then they can just hurry and end this? Maybe they could just tell them? Naruto scratched his head before giving up and texted Sasuke, surely he had a plan. 'Is it really worth it to not tell them?' he sent.

He sat there and started to nibble on his thumb and wait. His stomach rumbled and he patted it with a small 'shh'. He really wished Sasuke would just text back already. With a groan he sent another text. 'Teme! Im hungryyyyyy :(' Maybe he was telling Iruka and Kakashi the whole story so Naruto wouldn't have to. That made the blonde smile so he sent another message. 'lol just thought of sumthin, I could run away &amp; never come back and let u deal with this ;3'

Surprisingly enough he got a text back that time almost instantly. 'Get back here right now or I'll cut your taste buds off after I hunt you down!' Naruto pouted but made a big deal of flushing the toilet and washing his hands before sulking back into the kitchen. When he saw Kakashi holding the phone he pouted even more, now he didn't know if he should be scared of Kakashi or Sasuke. He plopped back into his seat and leaned his head into his palm.

Iruka let out another sigh and tried for a sweet smile. "Let's take a break from this topic, I think we are all tired of it, how about what you guys went to talk about when you went to visit Rusty? Can you tell us about that?" Naruto sent a small prayer thanking whoever for making Iruka so sweet.

Sasuke looked to Naruto but he wasn't sure what the raven wanted from him so he shrugged at the unspoken question. "I just told him about what all was being said by the idiots he had been hanging out with. Then I told him about what all happened today and then we came back." Sasuke explained annoyed with the entirety of the situation. Naruto nodded along but wondered if he left out the cloud watching and stuff on purpose or because he regretted being normal with Naruto. Did Sasuke not forgive him?

"Well Iruka, that makes me the only one that doesn't know about your exciting adventure to the school today." Kakashi leaned against the table on his elbows and held his head up with his palms. "Wanna tell your favorite person about the amazing misadventures of Iruka and sidekick Sasuke?"

Sasuke mumbled about not being a sidekick and Naruto sniggered at him. That of course got him a glare and a kick in the leg but the blonde just laughed some more. Iruka groaned at the memory but Naruto was a little curious himself. He had heard everything from Sasuke but hearing it from Iruka would be interesting.

"Well he looked and sounded like Iruka, but he was 100% white girl. More specifically a cheerleader captain, ruler of the school, white girl. I didn't know so much diva could be contained into a middle aged, male, fifth grade teacher." Iruka gave a pointed look to Sasuke at his over exaggeration of Iruka's 'divaness'.

"I wasn't that bad." Sasuke just made a skeptical noise and went back to his crossed arm posture in his seat. "I just told her what I thought of her and her system. She seemed to think it was proper to hide anything that wasn't accepted by everyone. If everyone did that, then no one could be their selves, and rights would never have been formed." Kakashi smiled proudly and Naruto felt warm with his own pride, or maybe that was the hunger.

It was silent for a few minutes so Naruto desiced to try again to whine his way out of this. "Iruka, I'm hungry." Naruto pouted pulling puppy eyes as best as he could. He knew they weren't as good as they use to be when he was younger and pudgy. It did seem to be swaying Iruka this one time though and Naruto was inwardly throwing a victory party.

"Oh I forgot something." Kakashi released Iruka's hand and stood breaking the trance that Naruto was sure he had Iruka under. He went to the fridge and pulled out a bowl. He grabbed salt as he passed the counter and purposely made a place in front of Sasuke clear to place the bowl down in. Instantly Sasuke's eyes opened widely and his mouth fell open, this was it, this was their end. Naruto slid down in his seat and accepted his defeat, Sasuke had already started to reach for the contents of the bowl but Kakashi swatted his hand away.

Naruto laughed in irony of their situation. "I thought you ate the last of those Sasuke."

At the sound of his name Sasuke was freed from the spell of his favorite food. He turned to Naruto who looked away with his brows furrowed and his cheeks red, why was he blushing? Naruto made a face at his empty plate and breathed deeply. He didn't usually get this easily embarrassed. He better pull himself together since they are going to have to tell the story soon anyways, there was no way Sasuke was going to resist much longer.

"So, Sasuke, about why you and Naruto had to have Iruka act as a referee this morning. Do you feel any urge to tell me what that was all about in the first place? Maybe either of you could then tell me why you guys stopped talking and sent this one into a spiraling vortex of bad thoughts." Iruka shoved him but Kakashi just laughed and went back to smiling at Sasuke. Naruto bitterly thought that at least the attention was finally off of him.

Nothing happened for a while besides Sasuke staring intently at the tomatoes so Naruto decided to take pity. Someone had to end this after all. "Sasuke if you want to tell them you can. It was actually kind of funny, at least my joke was." Naruto gave a small chuckle, he even still thought it was funny. Sasuke had literally tasted like a tomato.

Sasuke turned on Naruto with a glare. "That was not funny! It was stupid, I told you I had eaten tomatoes before going out to clean the dish I used." Sasuke had practically yelled.

"It was funny, in fact if I had to go back in time I wouldn't take back my joke. You set yourself up for that, who eats tomatoes at like one in the morning anyways?" Naruto threw his hands in the air and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I couldn't sleep; besides, I bet you have had late night ramen snacks. I didn't plan on-" Sasuke stopped himself and glanced at the two adults that were watching their argument intently. "That particular incident happening, so I didn't 'set' myself up for anything. Besides if you were going to go back in time then why wouldn't you just not run into me? Then that joke wouldn't have even been thought off and nothing would have happened." Naruto looked flustered for a moment and tried to find words, failing at first.

"Well your just angry because it wasn't even a joke, you seriously did ta-" Just then Sasuke clapped a hand over Naruto's mouth and placed one at the back of his head to keep a firm grip against his mouth. He squirmed and his screams were muffled. Glaring and making direct eye contact with the raven Naruto ran a tongue against Sasuke's hand, sure to coat as much of it as he could with his saliva.

"Ugh! Naruto!" Naruto laughed as Sasuke pulled his hand back in disgust. Naruto pulled his tongue back into his mouth and narrowed his eyes at Sasuke in confusion. "What are you looking at you disgusting idiot." Sasuke snapped as he wiped his hand on his jeans.

Naruto smacked his lips and smirked. "I still stand by what I said." Sasuke caught on to his implication and actually broke out into a light blush. A light pink that dusted his pale features and he turned away and crossed his arms mumbling a weak 'shut up'. Naruto stared at him completely bewildered, Sasuke had just blushed. Was that a thing that could even happen? Naruto smiled to himself in victory and made a mental note to make fun of Sasuke later for it. Consequences be damned.

"What was Naruto about to say?" Iruka asked Sasuke who narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth.

Instead of answering, the raven evaded with his usual sarcasm. "Probably something stupid as always." Naruto glared at the comment but kept quiet. Sasuke had gone back to pretty much drooling over the tomatoes again. Naruto was just drooling over everything.

It was so quiet and Naruto was so hungry. He just couldn't do it anymore. He looked up and was about to start talking whether Sasuke liked it or not but was interrupted by the raven himself. "I had snuck into the kitchen and brought some tomatoes into my room really early this morning. When I finished I decided to throw away the green stems from them and wash the bowl I used."

Shrugging Naruto decided to tell his as well, the sooner the better at this point. "I just had to pee so I got up and started to run to the bathroom. I didn't have to go bad, I just don't like that you get cold as soon as you leave bed, and I wanted to get back to my warm bed as soon as I could."

"Because he was running down a dark corridor he bumped into me on his sprint back to his room."

"Well, since I was running kinda fast, when we collided we both lost our balance and managed to fall over." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"When we fell, because my luck is the worst, he landed on top of me and we ended up in a lip lock." Sasuke said remaining as calm as ever. Naruto flinched but followed the pattern they had set and continued on with the story.

"After I realized what had happened I pulled away from him. I may or may not have noticed the smell and slight taste of tomatoes from our ki-" Naruto yelped and glared at Sasuke making it obvious that the Uchiha had hit him to correct his wording of the scenario. "From our lip lock. So I made the joke that he ate so many tomatoes that he tasted like tomatoes."

Kakashi had a huge grin across his face that made Sasuke scowl at him. "So what your saying is, you guys accidently kissed and it embarrassed you. Why didn't you fight then? Why did you save the fight until after you guys woke up to get ready?"

Naruto wanted to say that it was because Sasuke had jetted away before anything else could be said or done but again the raven spoke before he could. "Because Naruto wouldn't shut up about tomatoes and then asked me if he tasted like ramen. I told him to shut up that it was embarrassing and stupid, he told me that I didn't need to tell him because he knew it was disgusting. It just kept going like that getting worse as it went. It was just a simple fight over something stupid and it kept going. I told you it was over nothing and it's over now." With that said Sasuke grabbed a tomato and took a bite from it not making eye contact with anyone. Naruto also started piling his plate without making any eye contact.

It had been the quietest meal they had shared and as soon as he could, Naruto excused himself taking a bottle of soda with him. He chugged the soda and pulled his writing notebook to him as he laid on the ground. He started to write out a, probably overly dramatic, version of what happened with Iruka and the principle but he kept getting distracted by various thoughts. Today had been kind of heavy and he didn't know if he was supposed to suppress all the thoughts coming to him or if he was supposed to let them swallow him whole.

At some point he tried to listen to music but the sounds coming from his head phones just bothered him and set him on edge. Some of the so called friends tried to text him which was good to let off some left over anger. He told them to fuck off and never speak to him again and then blocked and deleted their numbers. That lasted all of five minutes though and he was back to laying on the floor trying to both embrace and push away his thoughts. It wasn't working out very well.

He thought about last night, after the lip lock incident. It had been the only time that he and Sasuke interacted without any major difficulties since the end of summer. That morning he hadn't meant to upset Sasuke. He had just wanted to joke with and make him know that it wasn't that weird and maybe try to get Sasuke to speak to him. Instead they had fought and Iruka got brought into it. Naruto sighed. When he was younger he didn't try this hard to get Sasuke's attention. Now it felt like anything he did was ignored or hurt Sasuke and it really wasn't his intention to upset anyone. He felt like his younger self all over again, loud and a pain for everyone to deal with.

Without him realizing it the time had trickled away while he wallowed on the floor and it was already nine. He figured that was a good enough time to go to bed. Sleeping would help hopefully. He ignored that his phone had seven messages from Kiba and Choji and laid down to drift off to sleep.


	8. Pretending The Reality

As great as Iruka had been during the 'talk' with Mrs. Marlow, Sasuke had actually been looking forward to the days of suspension. As far as he had been concerned those days were going to be a refreshing break to finish up a few sketches and probably start new ones. Unfortunately, it seemed that Iruka had struck fear into his principles heart and she was allowing him back on the terms of exceedingly good behavior. Whatever that meant, the raven wasn't sure.

When Iruka had nudged him awake and explained that he was allowed to go back he had groaned and threw a pillow over his head to block out the extremely pleased face Iruka had been making at his personal victory. The only good thing about the day was that when he got to school the three idiots were no where around and Gaara was especially nice that day, to him and only him. The redhead was unusually caring to Sasuke throughout the day and would snap harshly at those around them. it was kind of nice at first. Of course it lasted clear up until the last bell of the day had rung, which had become a problem. The raven was thankful to have Gaara back but was not enjoying the overly protective version of his best friend, who had continued to follow him closely even as he was getting ready to meet with Naruto to walk to Iruka's classroom.

Sasuke stopped in the hallway and turned to his best friend with a glare. "Gaara please, they aren't here today, and won't be for some time, and I don't think anyone is going to assassinate me." The red head narrowed his eyes but didn't move away. Sasuke sighed and looked around the hallway. Everyone usually rushed outside to wait for pick up or buses so the hall was mostly, if not completely, empty. Sasuke took a step towards his friend and hugged him loosely in an attempt to sooth him. He also had been hoping that by slipping in a casual but affectionate action he could conjure some type of intimate emotion towards his friend.

Of course it took a moment for Gaara to realize what Sasuke was doing since they rarely hugged, but once the realization hit him he hugged back and ducked his head to nestle Sasuke's shoulder. The raven wanted desperately to feel whatever it was people felt when they were in love, but all he felt was body heat and embarrassment for being intimate like this in a public area. Sasuke rolled his eyes at himself for the embarrassment, reminding himself a bit too much of Iruka.

When he pushed away from the hug Gaara still seemed a bit worried but looked easier to convince that he wasn't going to get beat up the moment they stepped away from each other. Sasuke gave a small smile and stepped away towards the back doors to head down the hill to the grade school. He really wished he knew what he was suppose to feel for Gaara. He wanted to get frustrated and happy like Kakashi and Iruka seemed to get when around each other, he wanted to laugh and feel content like them, he wanted to feel all of that if only because he knew Gaara wanted it and he didn't want to chase away his only friend again. He really wished hugging him left him with more sparks and happiness than with just a normal friend. Something like how Naruto describes getting hugs from Sakura and Hinata.

Speaking of the blonde, Naruto had jetted past him and nearly lost his footing twice before safely making it down the steep grassy hill. "Do you ever think before you do anything?" He yelled at the idiot who had nearly ran over a bunch of small children exciting the grade school building. He glared back for a second but was distracted again by a small boy who immediately jumped into his arms. Sasuke recognized the kid as Konohamaru, whose grandfather had recently passed away. He watched them for a moment as Konohamaru ecstatically retold his day to Naruto and bounced around happily. It was reminiscent of when Naruto was younger.

As Sasuke tried to slip past them he realized that the small brunette boy had started to sniffle over something and Naruto was doing his best to cheer him up. the scene made Sasuke wince as the memory of his self crying to the blond popped in his head. Quickly he pushed the memory away and enter the school building. His steps echoed in the halls as he hastily made his way to Iruka's room. The steady pace was interrupted by the sound of Naruto running to catch up.

"Hey Sasuke can I ask you something." Instead of giving an actual answer he sighed and gave an exasperated look to the blonde. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm to keep him from walking away. "Um are you and Gaara ok? Last I had heard he kissed you but then you guys stopped talking and now your talking again." Naruto looked down and rubbed his shoe against a scuff on the floor. "I mean are you guys dating or what?" Sasuke bristled but tried not to react too strongly.

He pulled his arm from Naruto and began his walk again without answer. He wasn't sure how the blonde interpreted his actions, hell he didn't even know, but Naruto simply sighed and followed in silence.

Once they made it into their guardian's room and sat down the silence continued until Sasuke felt his phone vibrate. He furrowed his brow as he fished it out of his pocket; Gaara usually had chores right after class and so didn't text him until about 4:30-5:00. When he looked down at his phone though he saw the dopey face assigned to Naruto's number. He gave a glance to the other teen to see the blonde watching him. He swallowed and decided to open it out of curiosity.

From Naruto: Are u and Gaara dating?

Sasuke immediately snapped his attention back to the blonde still watching him and glared harshly. The blonde gave a small smile and sunk a bit in his chair but didn't seem particularly sorry. He typed back that it was none of Naruto's business and heard the blonde scoff once he read it.

His phone buzzed and he checked it immediately. From Naruto: It is so my business! Ur my friend and live with me so I think I shuld kno!

In a very small way Sasuke did think that if he were dating Gaara he would at least tell Naruto, not because he had to, but because it was a bit weird to have a boyfriend only to hide it from everyone. However, he was already frustrated with the topic and not ready to convey his frustrations with it to the blonde. It was unfair of him, he knew, but Sasuke stood his ground and texted, 'just drop it and worry about your own pathetic love life.'

From Naruto: Tell me or I'll tell Iruka

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Naruto may have gotten taller since they were younger but his fighting tactics seemed to still be at a premature state. 'What your gonna tell Iruka that I won't tell you? Real Mature.' His phone buzzed almost immediately after he sent the message and as he read, "I'll tell Iruka your sleeping with him." His heart nearly came out of his throat. He turned to Naruto who wore a cheeky grin and flipped him off. When Naruto pointed at his phone for an answer Sasuke was sure to give him one. 'Fuck off! you will not.'

Naruto read it and furrowed his brow and stood up. Sasuke almost stood up as well, if anything to tackle the idiot to the ground before he ruined the raven's life. Naruto sent a glare to him as he approached Iruka, never disconnecting eye contact. When he stood in front of Iruka, the teacher completely lost in his work, Sasuke mouthed the word 'don't'. Naruto mouthed 'tell me' and Sasuke gave a small pitiful shake of his head, he couldn't understand why the blonde wanted to know so bad, or even why he didn't want him to know. Naruto reached for Iruka and Sasuke snatched his phone up and typed furiously.

He saw Naruto hesitate when his phone vibrated and it made him release the breath he was holding and glare as the blonde read his message and then look up in complete confusion. '_Now you know how I feel.'_ Sasuke thought bitterly to himself. He had typed 'I'm not sure what we are. I'll explain it later you ass.' It was the best legitimate answer he could give and he hoped Naruto understood that.

"Iruka." Naruto spoke and Sasuke once more nearly lept from his seat. Iruka jolted from his focus and turned to Naruto while Sasuke clenched his fists, trying to think of how to deal with Iruka suddenly becoming suspicious of Sasuke's literal none existent sex life. "Could Kiba come over? His mom already said he could and we can pick him up on the way home." Iruka thought about it for a moment and agreed and Sasuke glared harshly at the blonde as he walked back to his chair.

From Naruto: Btw Kiba is coming over

Sasuke flipped his phone face down onto the desk and glared at it. It buzzed a few times but he didn't care he just glared at the drawings placed up on the walls as he lost himself in thought. First of all he hated Naruto, secondly he really hated Kiba, and lastly he hated himself for not being able to want his best friend like his friend wanted him. It was clear that Naruto supported it, Gaara had told him about the blonde encouraging him to talk to Sasuke, and he knew that of course Gaara supported it, and if given the chance he was sure that Iruka and Kakashi would be over the moon to find out that he took interest in anyone. If it was so obvious to everyone what he should do then why couldn't he manage it? Sasuke pulled his arms to wrap around his abdomen as he explored his thoughts. He was sure that he was mostly afraid of Gaara leaving despite the redhead promising that this wouldn't cause their friendship to end.

He had tried a couple things during the day to see if he had just missed a step along the way and had accidentally skipped over having a crush. He attempted to examine Gaara's form and examine his own feelings as he did so. Gaara was a bit smaller but was in good shape for not being in a sport. It didn't make him feel heated up or breathless though. His looks were exotic and nice, he could definitely say his friend was attractive, but it didn't make him feel like pursuing his friend. Gaara kissed well enough as far as he had experienced, he could definitely see them kissing and being close, even the hug earlier wasn't bad, but it didn't make him feel different about the red head.

Sasuke sighed, maybe that intense affection wasn't meant for anti-social teens that have barely expressed emotions towards anyone. Sasuke glanced up when Iruka mentioned leaving. He stood and mindlessly made his way down to the car as he tried to work over everything. Maybe he really wasn't meant to have that intense feeling of affection until he allowed himself to show affection to someone. They had kissed which wasn't bad, startling sure but not bad, and when he hugged Gaara he did get a bit of some kind of comfortable feeling. Perhaps he did like Gaara but couldn't feel it because he hadn't given their relationship any time to properly form.

Somehow Sasuke felt like that wasn't the answer but it was the best he had. The raven sighed as he made it to the vehicle and tried to open the passenger door only to find it locked. He looked up and saw Naruto sitting there and staring back at him. "Oh hell no." Sasuke glared and a smirk appeared on the blonde's face. "Naruto he is your guest you sit by him." Naruto mock thought about it but then shook his head.

It had been a long while since Naruto had done this type of stupid shit to get under Sasuke's skin and Sasuke had to admit that he could almost forget his drama for a moment during it but he was already far too wound up to deal with this well. He growled and yanked at the door handle in futile attempts to rip the door open as he cursed at the blonde and threatened him in any way he could think of.

Eventually Iruka came and broke them up, where Sasuke may have attempted to choke Sasuke for being an idiot, and Sasuke resigned to his fate which to be honest wasn't that bad. Kiba was afraid of him and it made for an interesting ride and between the brunette and blonde's conversation Sasuke wasn't able to get too far into his own thoughts for how loud they were. Somehow Sasuke felt thankful but definitely wouldn't express that to Naruto.

Once they were home Naruto and Kiba went their own way and had left Sasuke alone to brood. He knew he was putting far too much thought into this, surely it wasn't this hard to figure out whether or not you actually liked someone. He sighed and picked up his sketch pad, he had homework but he figured he could pass on it for now. Sketching always helped when his thoughts wouldn't stop, he was able to focus soley on one thing for a little while before he saw his door open and he took his head phones out. It was Naruto.

"Hey, Do you wanna explain real quick whats up with you and Gaara?" Sasuke glared and Naruto sighed and closed the door. He made his way to the bed and sat down, with out permission Sasuke noted. "C'mon, give me the short version."

Sasuke watched him as he made himself comfortable and tried not to linger on how sincere Naruto had sounded. The raven looked at the wall of art to bye himself some time to think of what to say but for once his mind was completely blank. He had told himself that he was allowed to be mushy and cry with Naruto while they were out the other day but that was suppose to be it. he didn't know that Naruto was suddenly going to be constantly checking on him or that Sasuke would even want the blonde to be aware of what was going on in his life. He sighed again and looked back to Naruto who was patiently gazing at the art as well.

"Gaara wants to date but told me we don't have to or maybe we could take it slow and see how it goes. I'm not sure what we are since I hadn't ever given him an answer. We just are right now." Naruto nodded and but then turned to Sasuke as if expecting more. "What?"

"Well how do you feel?" The question frustrated Sasuke, as if he hadn't been thinking about it for the last twenty-four hours. "C'mon don't look like you swallowed a sour apple." Naruto laughed but then leaned in as if to whisper. "Sasuke are you even gay?"

"What? Don't be stupid." Sasuke froze, had he ever thought anyone attractive in a romantic way? He tried to imagine kissing Gaara, that was ok, Imagined kissing Neji, that was ok, Imagined himself kissing Kiba and nearly barfed. He tried imagining kissing Sakura and felt uncomfortable, imagined kissing Ten-ten, Hinata, all of the girls plus Kiba left him uncomfortable and a little disgusted. Not that he thought the girls as disgusting, just kissing them. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, I am sure I am gay." Leave it to Naruto to make a gay person question if they were straight or gay. "What about you?"

Naruto crinkled his nose and looked up in thought. "Not sure. I haven't ever hit on a guy, mostly cause I know I would literally get hit, but I tell ya girls are my jam." Sasuke rolled his eyes but didn't press it. If he had to guess though, he would assume Naruto to be straight.

"Right, well, have fun figuring out your sexuality, now can you please leave." Naruto eyed him for a minute but then nodded and left with a wave that Sasuke had just mutely nodded at.

As quickly as he could, Sasuke pushed that particularly revealing conversation out of his mind and put his head phones back in, only to hear a knock literally five minutes later. He tried to ignore it but Kakashi walked in anyways. "Close the door behind you." He huffed out, he just wanted some peace. Kakashi closed the door as was asked of him and sat at the end of Sasuke bed. This obviously wasn't going to be a minute deal seeing as Kakashi patiently waited for the raven to finish up the portion of drawing he had been working on. Giving in Sasuke took out his music and turned his attention to his guardian. "Can I help you?"

Instead of a reply Kakashi tapped his left cheek to notify Sasuke of the light smudge of black he had there. Sasuke wiped at the mark and huffed in embarrassment. He really just wanted to get back to his drawing. Why were people bothering him so much today, not even his thoughts would leave him be and when he finally gets a bit of peace everyone comes running. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his sketch, he knew he was being dramatic and should probably rely on someone but he felt this was something private that someone decides on their own, at least it felt private to him.

So drawn in thought, Sasuke was started when he saw Kakashi's arm reaching for his sketchpad. As a sort of jerk reaction and snatched his sketch away from Kakashi and hugged it tightly to his chest. He saw the surprise and then the humour Kakashi had at the situation and relaxed a bit.

"May I?" Kakashi held out his hand for the book. Sasuke looked down at the rather stupid drawing he had done without really thinking. Of a raven trying to fly away from a tree it was chained to with two annoying squirrels that were blatantly influenced by Naruto and his mutt. He kinda wanted to laugh at it but was afraid that Kakashi would try to tell him to be nicer. Eventually though he decided he didn't care and handed over the sketch.

Kakashi smiled at the drawing for a while and it made Sasuke feel good. He thought he was pretty funny anyways. He was curious as to what Kakashi was doing in his room though. He usually didn't bother the raven unless it was dinner time or he was needed to do something. "What do you want Kakashi?" Sasuke picked at his nails instead of making eye contact with the elder.

Placing the beautiful down Kakashi scooted closer to Sasuke. "I want to know what's going on. Did Kiba and Naruto do something?" Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and continued to pick at his nails. It was funny to him that everyone assumed it was Naruto's fault when Sasuke was upset. Sasuke took that as proof of Naruto being the one to cause the fights between them. "I heard that Naruto has been especially annoying, is that right?"

Sasuke let out a scoff and rolled his eyes. He wondered if there was ever a moment the blonde wasn't annoying. He decided to roll with this and ignore his earlier thought of sharing the Gaara issue. "I guess you could say that. The idiot only brought Kiba over here to annoy me. You would think those two would have something better to do with their lives. I'm use to Naruto but I figured the mutt would get that I'm not someone to mess with. I'm sure the he is just trying to rub in the fact that he has a friend." Sasuke bit his lip, he hadn't meant for that to come out the way it did.

Just by the way Kakashi's eyebrows rose in a small amount of humour told Sasuke that his parent had taken it the wrong way. "What about that angry lookin kid without eyebrows? I thought he was your friend, what was his name? Gaga? Maybe that's why he hates life, what kind of name is Googoo." Gaara forgive him, Sasuke felt himself smirk at the stupid names.

The truth of course was that Gaara was his best friend. He really didn't want to stop the conversation just to explain that yes they were best friends and that he hadn't meant his previous statements the way kakashi took them. He took a breath and tried to continue on with the charade. "I wouldn't exactly call him a friend. More like an ally against all the idiots in our classes. He tells me when the annoying girls are coming and I keep him away from everyone else. He seems calm but he really is the devil, always trying to secretly set up traps for the others. They are always meant for the more annoying students, but either way if he were to get caught he could get in trouble. So I am his cover story. Basically we keep each other from fighting with everyone in school." Sasuke felt himself nearly smile as he talked about Gaara.

Sasuke turned his eyes back over to his dumb drawing and pulled the book into his lap quickly as a way to keep himself busy. This thing with Gaara needed to get settled, it was throwing him off his game and making him reveal more things than need be. He reached for a pencil and tried to figure out if that meant he really did like his best friend romantically or if he just appreciated him enough to be so confused.

"So you and Gaara are friends enough to talk to each other every day, help each other, and you are close enough to be straight forward with one another." Sasuke glared over his sketch pad as he started to mark on the paper again. "Sounds like you guys are the bestest of friends." Kakashi smiled when Sasuke rolled his eyes, of course they were best friends. Sasuke was starting to break, maybe he should just tell Kakashi everything; maybe he would have some answers.

"Sasuke, can you tell me what's bothering you? You know you can talk to me, I won't even tell Iruka what's up if you don't want me to." The pencil Sasuke was holding stopped but Sasuke didn't look up from his drawing; he was afraid that if he did he really would tell Kakashi everything. "Don't make me bribe you, I'll do it. Alright how about a tomato. Two tomatoes. Two tomatoes and more charcoal."

Whether it be mania brought on from over trivializing a stupidly simple situation or the fact that Kakashi was just genuinely funny, Sasuke actually found himself laughing. Kakashi nudged him playfully and Sasuke tried to stop the laughter. "Don't laugh at me; I'm trying to make a business deal here."

Sasuke managed to control his laughter and turned to his grinning guardian. "Kakashi, what business deal have you ever heard of that involves tomatoes and art supplies."

"Well there was that time you got gum stuck in your hair and the only way to get you to let the barber cut your hair was to give you a new paint brush and some baby tomatoes." Sasuke remembered that one vividly. Worse day of his life. "Then when you got sick you were the biggest brat. The only way to get you to shut up was to give you some crayons, a coloring book, and a whole bathtubs worth of tomato soup." Sasuke pouted and Kakashi poked him in the cheek earning a glare. "So, how many tomatoes is it going to take to get you to tell me what's wrong?"

There was a minute where Sasuke only glared at Kakashi's stupid smile. He hated that Kakashi was so amazing. He heard a voice in the back of his head tell him he was awful, and he had to agree. "I want fried tomatoes, and can you draw me something to hang up on the wall. And can you ask Iruka to do the same."

A confused look flashes over Kakashi's face but he nodded and his gentle smile easily slipped back into place."That's fine, no promises on it being anything good. Should I get Naru to do the same?"

"No, absolutely not." Sasuke glanced at his own art to find something to say. Naruto had been a bit too much today, especially right after so much had happened. "Even though we have been living together for a long while, there are still things that Naruto does that drives me up a wall. Ever since the other day with the incident, he has just been pulling stupid stunt after stupid stunt."

"By 'incident' you mean when you guys kissed?" Sasuke threw his pencil at Kakashi who dodged it and laughed. That had definitely not been what he was talking about and Kakashi very well knew it. "Sorry, lip locked. Continue." Sasuke rolled his eyes at Kakashi's attempts at a tease.

Taking in a calming breath Sasuke continued on. "I guess I'm just feeling extremely on edge between his increase in annoyance and all the stupid people I have to deal with. Those dumb guys from school, having to sit in the office all today while the principle decided what to do with me, and then Kiba came over today and Naruto had me sit in the backseat with him. Naruto knows that I hate being near Kiba; I didn't know someone could smell that much of dog. I don't understand why Naruto can't just give me one little break from all the crap he pulls." Kakashi pulled Sasuke into a sudden hug and Sasuke let out another huff of pent up anger. He rested his body against Kakashi while strong hands rubbed small comforting circled on his back. He missed this, he almost forgot the comforts of Kakashi holding him, how he smelt. He felt like his younger self then but he suddenly felt too tired and comfortable to care.

"Do you want me to talk to Naruto and Kiba, tell them you have some deadly disease and unless they want to die they should stay away from you?" Sasuke gave a partial shrug. "I know this is going to sound a little ridiculous, but try to keep up alright? Maybe Naruto is being annoying because he doesn't know how he feels about you."

At this Sasuke sat straight up with his eyes wide. Maybe Kakashi really did think Sasuke was talking about the other night with Naruto. "Please tell me you're not trying to say that Naruto likes me now since we kissed."

"Lip locked" Kakashi corrected playfully. chuckling when Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Not necessarily like-like or because of the kiss. Maybe because he learned about those idiot kids and heard how much you care for the family and our honor, maybe now he wants to at least get along with you."

"Yeah right, more like drive me to commit murder." Sasuke interrupted.

Kakashi pinched Sasuke as punishment for interrupting. "No, really. Naruto only knows how to be loud and have fun. Just like you only know how to be sarcastic and draw." Sasuke was pretty sure he should have been offended but wasn't "Maybe he is trying to get your attention, to get a rise out of you. Kind of like a little boy pulling a girls hair when he likes her."

"That makes it sound like you're saying Naruto likes me again." Sasuke grimaced towards the wall behind Kakashi where he knew Naruto's room laid just on the other side.

"Well now that I think about it, you two would be just adorable together!" Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's arm and smiled brightly, practically sparkling. Sasuke instantly scrunched up his face in horror. "That would make a lot of since you know, and it may even solve your problem!" Sasuke had an image flash in his head of Gaara seeing Sasuke holding hands with Naruto and just nodding in acceptance. For half a horrible moment he thought that maybe forcing Naruto into even a pretend relationship really would fix his problems.

He shook his head and started swatting at Kakashi with his sketch book. "Don't ever say something so impossible! That is revolting! Naruto is so loud and annoying and just ugh! I think I would prefer Kiba or Sakura over that blond idiot." Sasuke pulled his knees to his chest and laid his forehead on his knees. He would forgive Kakashi since the older male didn't completely know what was up. "Anyways, back onto the subject. I'm just a little stressed over annoying people, I'll be fine as long as I avoid dumb and dumber."

"You should try inviting Gaara over some time Sasuke. Maybe when Kiba comes over you can have Gaara come over. Then every time the other two do something, you and Gaara can use your sarcasm powers and trapping skills to get rid of them." Kakashi said wiggling his fingers at Sasuke who rolled his eyes. That did seem like a good idea though.

"You're a dork Kakashi, but do you think maybe tomorrow if I can get a hold of Gaara?" Kakashi nodded and Sasuke went back to his drawing content with the answer. Kakashi rolled off the bed and stretched as he walked towards the door. Sasuke wondered how Kakashi was able to help him without completely knowing the situation, he looked up and felt a surge of affection. "Hey Kakashi, thanks for listening, don't forget the drawings. Or the fried tomatoes." Kakashi nodded and waved bye.

Sasuke took a breath and pulled his sketchpad to him and flipped to another page. He couldn't think of anything specific to draw and so just impatiently scratched at the paper with his pencil in messy scribbles of frustration. He heard something that sounded like Naruto screeching and then a thumping noise so he stopped and glared at his wall.

He thought about Naruto and felt frustrated, but then felt a bit relieved that he had at least told Naruto the whole story. In some way he wanted to talk about this some more with the blonde but also knew that would be a hard conversation to have. They had only recently, what? fixed their relationship? Had it been broken before? Sasuke wasn't sure, but it still felt new and fragile. The blonde had been there for him the other day though and hadn't judged him, maybe he could rely on him again for this even if they would end up in an argument like they always seemed to.

Sasuke looked down at his flattened lead and sighed. He would just invite Gaara over tomorrow and try talking a bit with Gaara. The redhead was his best friend, even if he was the reason Sasuke was confused, Gaara could always be trusted with an unbiased and clear answer. It may be a bit weird but Sasuke was fairly done with thinking on this. With the plan settled, the teen took in a breath and actually felt his body release quite a bit of tension and he decided to finish colouring in the glob of black on his page.

"Hey Sasuke, can I ask you something real quick." Despite being half scared out of his wits at the sudden appearance of Kakashi, Sasuke gave a slight nod for his parent to continue. He really needed to discuss permission and knocking with some people. "Are you gay?"

Sasuke looked up and glared at the head of white hair peeking into his room. "Why are you asking me that?" Seriously, he thought, how many times was he going to be asked to secure the knowledge of his sexuality.

Kakashi gave a casual shrug. "I was just wondering. If you don't wanna answer that then just tell me if there is any one you think you might like."

As if that wasn't basically an answer in it's self. Not to mention it was basically what was troubling him so much at the moment and he honestly just didn't care about any of it anymore. He puffed out a breath in frustration. "I don't care about that stuff." The comment sounded rude and snappish to his ears but he didn't mean it, he was just so fed up with anything even eluding to romantic.

"So you don't care about who you date? Man or woman?" That wasn't it. Sasuke knew he was gay, at least as far as kissing went; he was not ready to explore anything further than that though, not for now at the very least.

He needed to word this carefully. He didn't really feel much for anyone besides his family, and Gaara. It was all more on a familial basis though. "Not what I meant, I mean I don't care about anything like that. I currently have no crushes and can barely stand anyone. Maybe I'm asexual, but does it really matter?" He hated that he sounded desperate but was thankful when Kakashi didn't push it and only nodded before leaving once more.

Completely giving up with his drawing, Sasuke shoved his sketchpad away and grabbed his phone. 'Would you want to come over tomorrow?' He sent to Gaara. As he waited he laid back into his pillows and took a deep breath. If Gaara could, they would hang out and Sasuke would get his feelings in order. Things would be ok.

From Gaara: My mom says it's fine but it has to be after chores and after we go shopping.

Sasuke nodded and was sure to send him a text back saying that it was fine before he rolled over and grabbed a book. He had to read the same line three times before it made sense.

* * *

"I didn't know that was an actual thing that happened." Sasuke pouted as he entered his room with the redhead following. During the ride back after picking up first Kiba, then Gaara, Sasuke had learned pretty quickly that Kiba and Gaara weren't the best of mixes. When he asked about it Gaara told him about the dumb comments he had made while Naruto was hunting him down trying to figure out what happened to Sasuke. "Well it's ok they should stay away for now."

Sasuke sat on the bed and waited for Gaara to do the same as he shuffled through some music. "Would Iruka care if I got something to drink?" Sasuke shook his head no and waved the redhead off to retrieve the drink himself.

He and Gaara felt pretty normal like this; nothing was intense and Sasuke no longer felt as jittery as before. He gave a small smile to his phone as he thought about it, he couldn't remember why this was such a big deal. Of course he didn't like his best friend romantically, unfortunately for Gaara, the decision was pretty obvious at the moment. It helped his decision even more as he recalled that Gaara had made it clear a number of times that he wouldn't stop being Sasuke's friend just because the raven didn't return his feelings. Sasuke placed his phone down after setting it to shuffle.

"Sasuke!" Said teen nearly choked on his own spit when his door swung open and the two idiots marched into his room loudly. "Do you have the controller to the play station?" Kiba hung back and looked around the room; Sasuke had reasons for never letting Kiba in there, he didn't want it tainted.

Sasuke glared at the blonde. "Do you ever knock? What if I was getting dressed?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders and looked back to Kiba who also shrugged his shoulders. Sasuke sighed and stood up to look. "I don't think I have it. I'm pretty sure you were the last to have it."

"I was not! I remember cause we were playing that racing game, the one with the weird clown guy as the racer, and you lost so you walked off. Now we only have one and I want the other one." Naruto smirked at him and Sasuke stopped his searching to glare at the blonde. He also remembered that day and that isn't what happened at all.

"I didn't lose that racing game, and the last game we played was the zombie game with that annoying guy that falls into all the traps. And we both had to leave to do homework but you said you were going to keep playing so I left the remote with you and then Iruka fussed at you to go do your work." Naruto looked like he was trying to think about that for a moment but then shook his head.

The blonde snapped his fingers as he thought of something. "It has to be the clown racer, we had rice and pork that night."

"No we had fish and vegetables."

"No way that was the night when-" Gaara appeared seemingly out of nowhere at that point causing Naruto and Kiba to jump and take a step back.

Gaara looked between the raven and blonde as if waiting for an explanation. "Naruto has forgotten where he put the controller." Gaara nodded and then turned to Naruto waiting for the inevitable argument.

The blonde was a reluctant to say anything with Gaara's eyes on him but he was sure he was right in this matter. "I wasn't the last to have it, Sasuke, and I won't leave until I have it again."

Sasuke huffed out a deep breath in frustration, he was on the verge of telling Naruto to shove off when Gaara spoke up. "If you don't leave though then Sasuke and I won't be able to have any privacy. I'm sure you don't want to be around us for mushy things, yeah?" As Gaara spoke Sasuke kept his face under control, he wasn't sure what Gaara meant but he knew that it was meant to scare off the blonde, which he fully supported at the moment.

Naruto looked to Sasuke in surprise and then back at Gaara with amusement. "As if, Sasuke is just about as prudish as Iruka. There is no way he would let that happen. Besides I just want the second controller!" He whined turning back to Sasuke.

"I don't have it!" Sasuke crossed his arms with a huff, he was _not_ a prude.

"Wait, Iruka? Who I just saw making out with Kakashi in the kitchen. You think he is a prude?" Gaara almost seemed amused by that. Sasuke and Naruto made a face at that information but Kiba laughed seeing as he was also used to walking in on that. "Just leave Naruto. Sasuke obviously can't give you something he doesn't have." Gaara stood next to Sasuke and leaned against him. It was pretty intimate for them, and Sasuke was having a hard time understanding if Gaara was joking or thought they were dating for real. He couldn't think of any time he had specifically lead his friend to believe that.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Ok, stop it with the play."

"You think I'm playing?" Gaara asked with a smirk.

Even from across the room Sasuke could hear the nervous gulp from Naruto before he narrowed his brows and nodded his head. The fight had somehow turned into some type of bluff battle between Gaara and Naruto; how it got there, Sasuke had no idea. He heard Gaara laugh beside him and then the red head moved and Sasuke froze to the spot.

Gaara gently ran his fingers up Sasuke's right arm and then rubbed over his shoulders pressing him back against the wall with a small thump. The redhead was an inch shorter than Sasuke and so got on his tiptoes to bring their faces closer and then tilted his head, causeing their noses to brush against each other. Sasuke had closed his eyes and waited for what he assumed was going to be a kiss, but it never happened. Gaara had never intended on actually kissing him, but he did make it look like that was what they were doing. Once the full realization occurred to him, Sasuke had the strangest urge to just close the distance and make it real.

"Gaara don't do that!" Sasuke opened his eyes at the yell and saw Naruto taking a step towards them only for Kiba to grab his arm and yank him back. Sasuke laid a hand on Gaara's shoulder as a way to tell him to end the pretend kiss.

The redhead turned around to face the blonde but didn't remove his arm from around Sasuke's shoulders. "Why does it bother you blondie?" Sasuke felt himself wondering the same thing. He was also wondering why he suddenly wished Gaara had kissed him, and what that meant in terms of his feelings.

Naruto seemed even more angry at the question and wouldn't answer, while Garra seemed to get more and more tense as the seconds ticked by. After only a few seconds more Sasuke couldn't handle the tension and decided to take the situation back into his own hands. "You both need to calm down. Gaara was just trying to prove a point, why does it bother you?"

Sasuke watched as Naruto's eyes finally moved from Gaara and and back to glaring at him. He seemed to lose some of his anger but Gaara remained tense. "It doesn't, I just don't want to see it." It was quiet before Naruto continued. "You guys were leaning against the drawings on your wall, you're going to smudge them or crinkle them." Even thought the raven knew that wasn't the real reason Naruto was so upset, he found himself leaning forward and away from the art.

Gaara laughed at the excuse. Sasuke was lucky enough to have heard Gaara laugh a couple times but it usually didn't sound this bitter.

"What's so funny no brows?" Kiba hissed.

Gaara removed his arm from around Sasuke before answering. "Just that this is the beginning and it seems that no one else has noticed what is going on." Sasuke enjoyed Gaara's company but sometimes he was so vague and dramatic and it frustrated Sasuke's curiosity.

They really didn't have much time to question it though, like Sasuke saw Naruto about to, since he had heard something outside the door. Gaara mus have heard it as well seeing as he moved with Sasuke to the door. When they opened it they found Kakashi outside posed to knock. "Iruka sent me up to tell you guys that dinner is done." Kakashi spewed out quickly. That alone was enough for Sasuke to realize that Kakashi had been spying on them.

He was sure to glare at Kakashi as they walked past him. At dinner the normal feeling between Gaara and Sasuke came back and it relieved the raven but only a little bit as he continued to dwell on the pretend kiss and what Gaara had meant. Naruto still looked upset but Sasuke didn't have the mental capacity to care, and he really didn't have the controller. After dinner he and Gaara went through some of the books on his shelves and talked about a few of their favourites. Sasuke had even shown the art he did while he and Gaara were separate, which turned out to be a bad idea when Gaara used it as a segue to talk about their relationship.

"You did this one an hour before we went to the carnival." Sasuke tensed and made sure to keep his eyes from Gaara, who had noticed. "Sasuke I know you don't like me like that. I told you it's ok. You don't have to freak out every time something about it is brought up." Sasuke looked up at Gaara who was sitting close. "I mean it, it's not a big deal. I'm still very sorry I kissed you without asking how you felt first."

"I'm not upset about that, I never was." Sasuke sighed but kept eye contact with his friend.

"Then what is it that keeps making you so uncomfortable?" Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "You like someone else?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes and shook his head. When he looked back to Gaara he was surprised to see a look of disbelief there.

"I guess I'm confused with myself. I don't think I like you romantically, but then when I thought you were going to kiss me I didn't stop it or get uncomfortable. I don't think I would have if you actually did." Sasuke looked down at his drawing, not really seeing what exactly was on the page as he tried to work things out on his own mind.

Gaara placed a hand on his own to bring Sasuke's attention back. "Do you want to kiss?" Sasuke gave Gaara a look of confusion, he didn't see why Gaara would ask him that if he had just said that he didn't like his friend romantically. Sasuke looked down to Gaara's lips and gave a short nod. He wasn't sure what wanting this kiss made them or implied about himself but he allowed himself to be eased closer by a cool hand at the side of his face and allow his eyes to fall closed as their lips gently touched.

They kissed, nothing more than rubbing their lips together but it was honestly better than the their first wanna be kiss and this time Sasuke returned it as best he could. During the kiss Sasuke tried to learn as much as he could and really take in the experience. He decided he liked kissing, it wasn't as dramatic as movies made it seem but this was enjoyable none the less. He leaned more into it and felt pleased when Gaara's arms wound around his neck once more.

Eventually Gaara pulled away abruptly, leaving Sasuke dazed for a moment as he tried to pull himself back to reality. When he opened his eyes his friend was smirking at him and it made him feel embarrassed that he had been so drawn in by the most basic of kissing. "Come on don't be like that." The redhead laughed as he tried to make Sasuke stop pouting and look back at him. "Your a good kisser, does that make you feel better?"

It did actually and Sasuke smirked as the compliment filled his ego. "Only if you actually mean it." Gaara nodded and leaned in again, this time Sasuke met him half way and placed a hand on his friends shoulder to steady them. Again it felt nice and made Sasuke wonder how something that was no more extraordinary than placing open mouthed kisses on each other could be so enjoyable. There wasn't any tongue, or biting, or anything past moving their lips clumsily. Sasuke was very thankful for that since he wasn't sure if he was even prepared for anything more than this.

The kisses didn't last much longer before they both decided that was anough and eased into doing more 'normal' things such as finding board games, and complaining about classes. Kakashi and Iruka checked on them at some point but other than that they were left alone. At random times it would strike Sasuke that they had actually kissed and he would wonder if it would happen again, and they did share one last lingering kiss before they laid down to sleep. Sasuke tried to appear asleep but his mind was reeling. Mostly he was thinking about kissing strategies and whether or not he could believe his friend when he said he was good at it. He did also wonder if by kissing Gaara he had confirmed that they were dating despite admitting that he didn't want to. He was confused but felt like questions could wait.

He received a text from Naruto in the middle of the night that he hadn't been able to read until morning and it made him realize why Naruto may have been so affected by the pretend kiss. From Naruto: Why didn't you tell me?

* * *

**It's been awhile again. I wrote a lot on this and I would say its so long because I wanted to make up being gone for so long but really there was just a lot I wanted to try to cover from Sasuke's POV. I tried a bit more on this but it probably isn't great since I have had so many essays and exams going on this week. Hope everyone is doing well though and have enjoyed the chapter. Please review and tell me what you think.**


	9. Working On Understanding

"I still don't get it, what's the point of doing all of it? It makes no sense to me." Naruto took a bite of his burger as he eyed his pink haired friend as she reapplied make-up instead of eating her food. "Who cares what you look like with all that on your face. You should just eat, you look fine." Sakura glared over her hand mirror at him but continued messing with her makeup. The blonde shook his head and turned to the raven beside him who was leisurely nibbling on his salad. "Sasuke do you get it?"

To Naruto's disbelief Sasuke nodded his head affirmatively, there was no way Sasuke actually understood why their friend felt the need to reapply makeup every hour instead of just enjoying her food. The raven turned to him with a smirk. "Just because you don't take care of yourself doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't. Maybe that's why you can't get a date." Naruto narrowed his eyes and then pouted when Sakura laughed. He felt ganged up on.

Sakura batted her lashes with a small upturn of her lips and leaned across the table towards Sasuke; she wasn't flirting like she use to when they were younger but she still liked to be as feminine as she could around her old crush. "It didn't really help me to win you over though, did it." She gave a small pat to Sasuke's hand that wasn't picking at his salad as the raven just shrugged and turned back to his meal. Naruto eyed him for a moment before smiling back to Sakura to continue questioning the meaning of looking nice if it messed with being able to do other things, like eat.

Things like this, looking unrealistically good 24/7 just to impress people, never really appealed to Naruto or even seemed like something others should worry about. Not that makeup was bad, but he wished Sakura wasn't so obsessed with it and would just allow herself to relax. He hoped that she wouldn't become like that but once Ino started wearing a lot of makeup, Sakura immediately joined in on the makeup train and from there it spiraled out of control.

A laugh escaped Naruto as Sakura sassed him as she re-adjusted her hair and smiled up at him as they enjoyed a friendly moment. He was glad that they were decent friends now even if he knew he didn't have a shot at making her happy romantically. He knew they were close though and he could accept that as enough. 'She would at least tell me if she started dating someone.' The bitterness in his own thoughts made Naruto wince. He didn't want to feel like this.

Naruto above everything was suppose to be there to support Sasuke, but it didn't stop him from feeling bitter over how he found out about _his_ friend and Gaara. They didn't talk about it very much and Naruto tried very hard to accept that it wasn't something that Sasuke was very comfortable talking about, even if he was so curious he thought he was going to die. The only thing he had gotten from Sasuke was that he was "pretty sure he and Gaara weren't dating", that only confused the blonde further since he has caught them kissing twice since that day. It was specifically confusing because he was sure Sasuke had been clear in the fact that he _didn't_ want to date Gaara but was suddenly all for going along with whatever they had going.

"I think your beautiful Sakura, why not date me?" Naruto asked waggling his eyebrows at his friend. She snorted and rolled her eyes and Naruto tried not to take it to heart.

With a final smack of her glossed lips Sakura stood and stretched before announcing that she was gonna go boy hunting, which Sasuke and Naruto both made a face at. No more than a second after she left, Kiba plopped down in her seat with a low whistle and a half eaten sandwich. "She looks really good today, I wonder if she would ever let me have a chance?"

Something defensive rose in Naruto. Not really for Sakura but for Kiba. "As if!" Naruto yelled with a roll of his eyes.

Kiba furrowed his brows as he took a bite from his sandwich. "You don't think I'm in her league or something?" He managed through his mouth full.

Naruto smirked. "No, I mean 'as if' you would ever betray your love for Hinata." Kiba narrowed his eyes but then laughed softly while rubbing at his cheek. He didn't answer but Naruto knew he was right. Kiba has liked Hinata since they were ten, and they nearly spent everyday with each other. It was unfortunate that Hinata was oblivious to the romantic feelings Kiba held for her. Naruto just couldn't figure out why he hadn't asked Hinata out yet, sure she was shy but they have known each other for years now and they seemed comfortable enough around each other. At least Hinata didn't faint when Kiba was around like she did a lot in middle school with Naruto. The blonde never did find out what was wrong with her, he figured it was just because she was scared of him or his loud personality.

A shove at his side brought Naruto from his thoughts, he looked over to Sasuke who had nudged him. He didn't make eye contact but had mummbled lowly, "Scoot over some." Naruto looked confused until he saw Gaara past Sasuke, headed for their table. The blond glared down at Sasuke but gave up with a sigh. He got up and decided to sit on the other side of the table completely. He was sure to give a kick to Sasuke once he was reseated next to Kiba who had seen the action and grinned.

"I saw that Naruto." Gaara stated as he sat as well. Naruto pulled a face and decided he was still too upset with the two across from him to communicate with them, so he started talking with Kiba about the weekend while Sasuke and Gaara did their little bit of talking and eating.

At first Naruto didn't think something like this was going to go well. Kiba threw an absolute fit the first time it happened, having Gaara and Sasuke sit with them, but eventually got over it and had even started being nicer around Gaara. In miniscule ways Naruto had found that he didn't like opening their table to the pair, with the knowledge that they were kinda-but-not dating it made Naruto feel edgy when they were together; For the most part though, he liked it since it made him feel like he and Sasuke were really becoming friends like Iruka and Kakashi wanted. Naruto saw what looked like a blush on Sasuke's face at something Gaara said and his nerves bristled; He was sure they were going to get caught and it made him feel something icky inside his chest.

Neither Sasuke or Gaara were out to the school, nobody was 'out' in the school, and it made Naruto nervous when he saw them on the rare occasion hug or brush finger tips. Just yesterday Naruto and Sasuke had met up with some friends and Gaara had stealthily pecked him on the cheek and it damn near gave Naruto a heart attack. Luckily no one saw except Kiba who obviously knew about it and was cool with homosexuality. Naruto had talked to Sasuke about this a number of times which usually turned into a fight or Sasuke flat out walking away but Naruto couldn't help being on edge about this.

By the end of lunch Naruto and Kiba had agreed to find something to do for the weekend since colder weather was setting in quickly. They weren't super sure what but they felt the pressure to get in as much warm weather activity as they could. It was enough to occupy most of Naruto's mind with excitement, but it also made Naruto wonder what Sasuke would be doing in the weekend. Its been a few weeks since he and Gaara started dating-but-not-really so it was normal that they wanted to go on dates outside of the house. He just hoped that they didn't do anything where they could get confronted without Naruto there to help. In all honesty he was impressed that they hadn't been caught by Iruka or someone, and in another way he hoped they got caught and weren't allowed to kiss or be within five inches of each other.

Obsessed, Naruto wouldn't say he was obsessing. He was just concerned and maybe still felt guilty for the whole Kabuto situation. Who wouldn't be concerned after all that mess? Sasuke and he hadn't talked in nearly months, then Sasuke literally cries to him after getting into a huge fight, only then to end up in a weird relationship thing with a friend that he had been isolating for some time before. It seemed a little much even to Naruto. He wished Sasuke would talk to him, he had hoped the raven would speak to him more freely after the talk they had at the old house but so far it didn't seem like it would be that easy at all.

* * *

Kiba had asked if he could come over that night which Naruto and Sasuke both said no to. The last night Kiba had been over Iruka had been about two seconds from snapping on the lot of them and the last Naruto wanted was to have Kiba scarred from Iruka's rage. He also wanted to decrease the likeliness of Iruka snapping at all. Naruto was pretty sure he had made the right call for sure when he and Sasuke walked into Iruka's classroom to see him face down at his desk with paper work haphazardly scattered over said desk and his breif case flopped over on the floor.

Both teens stood in front of the desk for a moment as if waiting to see if Iruka was still breathing. The long haired man didn't budge at all. "Do you think he's alright?" Naruto asked in a whisper to Sasuke beside him.

The raven crossed his arms with a deadpanned look on his face. "No I think he died." Naruto knew it was a joke but he couldn't help but feel his heart jump at the thought of walking into a room to find Iruka hurt or dead. "He's fine Naruto." Sasuke swung his arm out to smack against Naruto's chest to dislodge his thoughts from the dark path it had been on. It helped for the most part but Naruto still felt uneasy and concerned for his guardian.

The blond idled up to his guardian's side cautiously, and placed a hand on the man's shoulder to give a little shake. "Iruka? Hey, Iruka. C'mon time to get up." Iruka stirred with a groan and it sent relief through the worried teen.

"I'm fine Naruto, my head just kinda hurts." Iruka opened his arms to let Naruto lean down and accept a hug, which he did. "I'll be fine." When he was about to pull back from the hug he felt Iruka open his arms more and call for Sasuke. When he turned back to look at the pouty looking raven, he sighed and made his way over to wrap his arms around both Naruto and Iruka in a squished group hug. It was nice if Naruto allowed himself to think so, even when Sasuke tried to pull away before Iruka was ready to let go and began fussing when Iruka wouldn't let go.

Once Sasuke convinced Iruka to let them go, Iruka gave them each a gentle pat and sat back down at his desk to begin grading things where had apparently left off for a little nap. Naruto was sure he wasn't the only one that noticed how much slower Iruka was going than usual. At the very least the blonde was sure that he hadn't ever heard so many sighs come from Iruka, except for when the blonde or Kakashi were being especially difficult. Naruto sent a look to Sasuke next to him and was pleased when Sasuke met his look with a nod and they both began to pack up Iruka's things for him.

Iruka had only mummbled a weak "boys" as a protest but Naruto was determined to get Iruka home for a nap, or something, as soon as possible. Sasuke nodded towards Iruka and while Naruto wasn't sure exactly what he meant he still went to his parent's side and helped him to his feet. Iruka thanked him and made to reach for his briefcase but Sasuke turned away with the briefcase in his hands and walked from the room. The way Sasuke made everything he did so dramatic but graceful made Naruto screw up his face as he watched him leave the room.

"Naruto, you guys do realize I'm not dying or anything, I'm just tired." Naruto grinned and gave shrug. As much of an asshat as Sasuke could be, Naruto knew that when it came to family he and Sasuke both had a want to take care of them, so it really wasn't a surprise to him that he and the other teen were able to team up for this so easily.

Down in the vehicle Naruto saw that Sasuke was already sitting in the passenger seat; Naruto was highly suspicious that Sasuke had somehow planned on Naruto being delayed by walking Iruka down to the car. Despite the trickery Naruto made the decision to sit in the back without a word in the name of peace for Iruka. "So what do you guys want to eat, I'm thinking about take out." And just like that he and Sasuke dropped all pretense of being peaceful.

Sasuke turned around in his seat to pin Naruto with narrowed eyes."We are not eating noodles Naruto."

A smile formed on Naruto's face at the need for Sasuke to say that with such ferociousness. "Ok, but how about pizza." Sasuke curled his lip in dsgust. "We could just have plain burgers." Sasuke didn't like the idea of that either apparently but Naruto couldn't think of much else at this point. "Well what would you get?" He snapped motioning towards Sasuke.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something but cut himself off and looked to the front where Iruka was having difficulties starting the vehicle. "Maybe we should call Kakashi?" Naruto watched for Iruka to get his phone out but Sasuke ended up being the one to dial Kakashi. "Here Iruka it's ringing."

"How about thai?" It took Naruto a moment to realize that Sasuke was talking to him about food again. He distractedly nodded in agreement.

Iruka got a stunned look on his face and it made Naruto feel even more distracted. "Still has noodles." was his attempt to sass. Sasuke made a humming noise as he watched Iruka as well.

"Here." Iruka shoved the phone at Sasuke and the raven nearly dropped it in surprise. Sasuke held the phone to his ear and listened to the voices on the other end for a second with a grimace slowly forming on his features. Naruto felt beyond left behind and scooted to the edge of his seat so he could press his face closer to Sasuke's to try to listen in.

"He is still here but I'm pretty sure it would be better if you just came down here. Why are you even there?" Noticing the proximity of Naruto's face Sasuke shoved his palm in the blond's face until he relented and went back to sitting. "I'm not sure I wasn't paying attention. Yeah. ok, love you to. bye." Sasuke hung up with a sigh and then gave Naruto a concerned look, which definitely wasn't over Naruto's well being, before looking back over to Iruka who was blankly staring ahead. "He'll be here in thirty minutes or so." Iruka didn't reply.

Giving up on trying to figure all this out on his own, Naruto swatted at Sasuke's arm causing the raven to turn to him with a scowl. "What's going on?" He whispered as best he could. Saskuke grimaced further and gave a sympathetic look to their guardian and then shrugged his shoulders. Naruto narrowed his eyes in disbelief, he had heard what the raven said over the phone, Sasuke obviously knew something about Kakashi at the very least but wasn't telling him. "Where is Kakashi?" He tried again. Sasuke mouthed the word 'later' before resolutely facing front in his seat. Growling and grumbling in complain Naruto sat back in temporary resignation. He was sure to give Sasuke's seat a good kick as he sat back since he knew Iruka was currently out of it enough to not notice.

To both the boys gratefulness Kakashi's vehicle pulled into the parking lot not too long after. Eager to get up and move Naruto clambered out of the car and ran to his other parent's car. He slowed down in his sprint when he saw another person in Kakashi's vehicle; a woman with darker hair that spiked around her face. Kakashi and the woman got out of the car and Naruto greeted Kakashi with a hug but kept his eyes on the woman with pale eyes. "Who are you?" He asked eyeing the girl who gave him a big crooked grin.

"Were you born without manners or do you strive to be rude?" Sasuke grumbled at him appearing next to Kakashi and Naruto. The woman laughed loudly and grinned with her tongue caught between her teeth when Naruto glared at her. "She's Anko Mitarashi. And this is Naruto Uzumaki." Sasuke explained motioning between the adult woman and Naruto.

Not wanting to be rude Naruto nodded to the woman and would have said something but he noticed Kakashi begin to walk towards the car. He stepped in the man's path earning a questioning look. "Listen, Iruka is in a weird mood just so you know. I think maybe he's half asleep but he's acting super weird." From the corner of his eye, Naruto could see Sasuke nodding in agreement with him. "Maybe be gentle when you speak with him and play down on the mushy stuff."

"You could also maybe explain why you brought Anko here." Sasuke gave a distasteful glance back at Iruka's car. Naruto looked back as well and felt his stomach drop when he saw the strange woman leaning against the car and speaking with Iruka and by the time he turned back to Kakashi the man had walked past the two towards Anko and Iruka. "This isn't going to end well." Sasuke sighed and followed after their parent.

There was a heavy feeling in Naruto's stomach for the rest of the time that they were out. He wasn't really sure what was going on but he knew that something was off, he just couldn't pinpoint it. He helped Kakashi as he looked over the engine for any signs of what could be wrong but stayed quiet. When Kakashi deducted that they just needed a jump start he nodded and stood off to the side as Kakashi brought his vehicle nose to nose with Iruka's to set up the cables.

While things were getting settled Naruto carefully watched everyone for any kind of hints as to what caused this type of tense situation to occur. Even the Anko woman seemed to have felt the prickly atmosphere and was away from everyone inside Kakashi's car. Iruka seemed to be disassociating and not really making eye contact with anyone, and Sasuke was glaring at everyone and turning away from conversation like a pissed off cat.

When stumped and left with no clues, text Sasuke since he always has the answer. That is how Naruto has been doing homework and a number of other things and it hadn't failed yet. Naruto hugged Kakashi before he climbed into the so he could go ahead and send his text to Sasuke. He hadn't been listening to Iruka and Kakashi talk but he felt the car lurch and then Iruka was speeding away faster than he normally would have. The heavy feeling in his stomach suddenly felt cold as he realized that Iruka was angry at Kakashi. So many questions rushed through his head at the realization. He searched the last few days to see if he could find a cause for the anger but didn't find anything that could make Iruka this panicky or angry. Naruto looked down at his phone and sent the text that he had been working on.

Sasuke replied soon enough. 'I don't know for sure but I think Iruka misunderstood something Kakashi did.' Naruto narrowed his brows in confusion. He couldn't think of anything that Kakashi did that was rude or could have been taken wrong. Another text came through. 'we can talk more about it later away from Iruka.' Naruto at first felt himself bristle at the prospect of having to wait even longer to learn what exactly it was that he was missing but he figured it would be easier to explain verbally thn over text. While they drove around Naruto felt the dread building up and he sighed heavily with little relief.

From the front seat Sasuke made a small humming noise and then there were clicking sounds from his phone. Naruto looked up curiously and waited for him to finish and hit send. He looked a little upset as he typed and it confused Naruto when his phone never pinged with a notification. Sasuke's phone vibrated and he rolled his eyes at whatever was on his phone. Naruto rose an eyebrow at the scene and then narrowed his eyes when he figured it out. Gaara.

Without thinking about how private Sasuke usually was, Naruto quickly typed out a text. 'Wat r u and Gaara talking about?'

This apparently wasn't a good topic based off of the glare he was shot over the raven's shoulder and the rude message. 'Absolutely nothing you should concern yourself with. Dont text me again.' Naruto scrunched his face up at the text and then turned to Sasuke and stuck his tongue out.

Naruto carded his hand through his hair in frustration. There were too many things going on that he didn't understand, it was driving him crazy. He looked back down at his phone in thought and dropped his hand from his hair. He decided to text someone to take his mind off of things for now and ended up texting Lee. He wasn't sure how he even got the goofy looking kid's number but he was nice and Naruto figured that was good enough. He was great at texting to, always answered unless he was at his guardian's dojo or at a track event.

'naruto! im glad you messaged me. i have great news!' Naruto felt a small smirk pull at the corner of his lip at the number of exclamation points Lee tended to use. Another message came in before Naruto could even ask what the news was. 'i heard a new student will be attending our school sometime soon, isn't that great! New faces are always great to have around! i do hope that he is as kind as our other friends, perhaps he will want to join track with me or maybe come see the dojo!'

It was sort of good news as long as the kid wasn't anything like Kabuto and the rest of the jerks that were also coming back some time next year. Naruto couldn't get any information on the new kid after that point since Lee had entered one of his impenetrable youth rants about the powers of friendship. He eventually made the excuse of helping Iruka set up for dinner to get him to stop messaging even though Iruka had just announced they would stop at a fast food place for burgers as he texted it.

Once they were home Iruka continued to be lost in whatever thoughts that were clouding his mind and Sasuke and Naruto ate their food quickly before bailing from the table. Iruka had barely nodded them away and mumbled a 'love you, be good' before they were gone. Naruto had tried to say something to Sasuke as they walked but the raven just shook his head. Feeling rejected Naruto huffed and marched to his room with as much show as he could. By the time he had reached his door, the feeling of hurt twinged just enough to deflate him. He sighed and turned to look down the hall only to see Sasuke standing expectantly behind him.

As Naruto stared at Sasuke he become impatient and crossed his arms. "What? are we talking in your room or what?" The blond was quick to push open his door for Sasuke but felt dumb struck as he walked by him. He grinned though, feeling that this somehow was a victory in it's own way.

They settled onto Naruto's bed with their backs to the wall, Sasuke claiming Naruto's pillows to make a nest for himself. "So now will you explain to me what I was missing throughout all of that?" Naruto asked picking at his comforter.

"Iruka thinks Kakashi is having an affair." He stated bluntly.

"What?" Naruto squeaked leaning up on his knees and looking like he was about ready to bolt from the room to do, he wasn't even sure himself.

With a roll of his dark eyes Sasuke grabbed Naruto's shirt to pull the teen back down onto the bed next to him. "He thinks. I don't though; Kakashi is too loyal for that and he definitely wouldn't cheat with Anko." Naruto's brows pinched together at the mention of that name. He put the name to the woman with Kakashi today and it made his stomach roll that she was the one making Iruka feel so hurt. "Stop looking like that Naruto. weren't you listening there is no way Kakashi would see her as anything other than a sloppy boss and an annoying friend of the family."

"But what if he is! No wonder Iruka is acting so off today." Sasuke had snapped at Naruto to calm down but the blond went on in his rant. "What proof is there that he isn't. Oh my god what if they break up. Sasuke this isn't good."

While images of a ruined family flashed through Naruto's mind Sasuke had moved from his pillow pile to sit in front of the hysterical blond. He grabbed both sides of Naruto's face and shook him a bit. "Stop and listen idiot." Naruto glared at him but nodded with a huff. Naruto pulled his face from Sasuke's grip and worked his jaw.

"Ok now listen. Anko, she's a borderline alcoholic. Why or how she become above Kakashi is a mystery to anyone. He honestly ends up doing her job half the time. That being said it's not too out of ordinary that he would end up going with her to a business deal. She probably was already taking shots and being loud and touchy by the time Iruka called. So it sounded like she was a strange lady rubbing all over Kakashi at a bar."

"Ugh, Sasuke, she kind of is." Naruto watched as Sasuke closed his eyes in irritation before shrugging and then nodding in agreement.

"But she really is a friend of the family. She use to babysit me on days that Kakashi wasn't around." Naruto didn't understand how that was meant to make the situation any better. "She's Kakashi's friend Naruto. Friends are allowed to be close, even if it is annoying." Somehow Naruto felt offended by the look he was being given after Sasuke said that. "Kakashi didn't cheat she is just a stupid drunk."

As much as Naruto still didn't like the situation he nodded in understanding. "So Kakashi was just being a good friend and carting her around so she didn't stumble off in a drunken stupor." Naruto asked finally feeling less lost. Sasuke huffed and nodded. "Well great let's go tell Iruka so he can feel better and not be angry at Kakashi." Naruto excitedly started to get off the bed but Sasuke roughly shoved him back. "Ow, what?"

"We can't, are you stupid?" Sasuke asked crossing his arms.

"I will be if you keep making me hit my head on shit. Why can't we?" He growled as he rubbed his head where it had connected to the wall the bed was pressed against.

"If we tell Iruka all of this right now he'll think it's just us making excuses for Kakashi. It'll just make it harder for Iruka to believe Kakashi when he explains it for himself." He explained as if any of that had made sense. Naruto was trying hard but he didn't get it.

"That, seems really dumb." He said shaking his head.

The raven norrowed his eyes and nodded. "It is but people their age will just assume we're scared they will split up and are defending Kakashi. Even if Iruka did believe us he would probably still always hold suspicions. Believe me, it's not worth it."

When put that way Naruto better understood, he just wished he could do something, anything. He had never had to deal with this kind of situation and felt afraid, even if he wouldn't ever fess up to feeling so. He was sure that Sasuke felt the same just looking at the way that he drew up one knee to his chest. "Sasuke, how do you know it will turn out ok?"

To Naruto's disappointment Sasuke only shrugged without even looking up. Naruto sighed and leaned back against the wall again. He wondered how situations like these even happened, it seemed a bit ridiculous. He just really hoped that this would easily solve its self since it was all just a big misunderstanding. Still, he wanted to help. He began to think about some kind of game plan when he felt Sasuke move back to the pillows next to him.

It felt like Sasuke was going to say something so Naruto lifted his head to watch Sasuke. The other teen was watching him and sighed when they made eye contact. "Naruto are you still upset about me and Gaara?" Immediately Naruto shook his head no but turned too look towards his hands instead of continuing to look at Sasuke. If his thoughts at the lunch table were any indication he knew he still was but didn't want Sasuke to know. "Well that was obvious as hell."

Well there went Sasuke not knowing. "Shut up it was not."

Sasuke bumped shoulders with Naruto. It was unusual of him but made Naruto smirk a bit and even feel better. "If it makes you feel any better, we aren't dating, never were." Naruto snorted and rolled his eyes in disbelief. He was thankful that Sasuke was trying right now but he didn't want him to lie. "We weren't! It was just a way to make you guys go away and then to annoy you, but then we just started kissing cause it was fun, but i think he thinks we're in a relationship."

Sasuke explained everything sounded more and more frustrated with everything and, himself Naruto thought, then pulled both of his knees up to his chest signaling his own personal defeat. "Sounds like you need to fix that Sasuke. I know I've been kinda pissy towards the two of you, but when he isn't with you he's actually pretty cool. I don't want you breaking the poor guys heart cause you led him on." Sasuke nodded instead of getting offended which bothered Naruto. "Hey, it's ok, yeah? If you don' want to be with him just say so. He's said a hundred times that he would stick by your side even if you guys didn't date or I guess stopped kissing. It'll be ok." Naruto nudged him gently making the raven sway.

An answer to Naruto's reassurance was never given but Sasuke sighed and leaned his head back against the wall along with Naruto. They sat for a few hours just sitting in silence, Sasuke on his phone and Naruto somewhere between a nap and resting. Eventually, after Naruto had nearly fallen from his sitting position and into Sasuke's lap, Sasuke yawned and eased himself off the bed with an elbow painfully in Naruto's thigh as leverage. "We have homework tonight. Don't forget." Naruto nodded feeling distrait in his sleep haze as he tossed his pillows back where they belonged so he could collapse on them. He didn't see Sasuke slip out of the room but when the blond opened his eyes again, after falling asleep, he was alone with the light still on.

The heavy feeling from sleep made him groan as he reached around the bed and floor in search for his phone. He could see it just out of his reach on the floor and he glared at it. Letting the top portion of his body hang off the bed, Naruto reached for the phone and barely got his fingers around it when he slipped from the bed completely. The fall hadn't hurt but it made Naruto huff in irritation.

There were about three texts from Kiba crying about how hard the homework is and how horrible of a friend Naruto was for leaving him to struggle on his own. He groaned and rubbed at his eyes at the memory of homework and Sasuke's reminder to do it. Peeking back at his phone through his fingers he saw that it was two hours before he needed to be awake for school. "Fuck, I'm not doing it." Sluggishly the blond pulled himself up from the floor and back onto the bed.

While he laid there he wondered if it was even worth it to go back to sleep. It wasn't like he was tired since he ended up going to sleep pretty early, but then again who was he to deny extra time to sleep. He flopped over onto his stomach completely intended on resting up as much as possible, especially if he was gonna have to face his teacher for not completing this assignment, when he realized it was the big book report which was for 60% of his grade. About three seconds after that thought ran through his head Naruto jumped up in a tangle of blankets feeling like his heart had just stopped.

"Oh shit!" He scrambled for his phone and checked the time again. In a panic he tried to run to his book-bag, thankful that he ended up sleeping with the light on so he could see. He stumbled a bit when his blankets tangled around his bed but he managed to get to his bag without injury. When he managed to get the right folder out and flip through the assignment he threw himself back to lay against the ground in relief.

Now that he was more awake and aware he remembered that this project was basically finished since Iruka and Sasuke both kept on his case over it. The only thing he needed to do was print out the essay he had written over the report and put all of his pieces together in a single folder neatly. He put his hand over his chest where he could feel his heart beating erratically. A few hysterical chuckles flit out of him while he tried to remember to kiss Iruka in the morning and do something for Sasuke in thanks. He practically owed them his life. Laughing again he wondered if he should be more thankful to Sasuke since Iruka would have killed him if he hadn't finished this assignment.

Laughing some more Naruto shakily crawled back to his bed and picked up his blankets and phone. He opened up his messages with Sasuke and sent him as many loving emojis as he could with a quick 'ilysm'. he'd probably get hit for it but he didn't care. The only thing he did care about at the moment possibly getting a glass of ice water and then getting at least an hour more sleep.

As quietly as he could Naruto stumbled down the dark hall and stopped for a minute out side of Sasuke's door. He could hear light snoring from inside and bit his lip at the distant sound. He wished he could tease Sasuke for snoring but he knew he was a far louder snorer than Sasuke ever would be. Continuing to dawdle slowly so as not to trip, Naruto's thoughts stayed focused on Sasuke. He recognized that they were able to have another moment like the time after Sasuke's fight, where they spent time together comfortably talking and then in silence. At least Naruto was certain that he felt comfortable spending time with Sasuke, how Sauske felt was a toss about for Naruto since he could never pinpoint what the other was thinking.

In his own cloud of thought Naruto had realized that he had made it to the kitchen already and took to grabbing a glass and some water. He chuged about half of it before refilling the glass and taking a sip. It was refreshing and made him feel cool enough that the thought of his warm bed was already making him drowsy despite the time slipping away for him to weasel in some more sleep.

Getting lost in his own thoughts again about how much time he had before he absolutely had to get up, he nearly missed the figure laying on the couch. He turned sharply, nearly spilling his drink, at the sound of a small snore. Relief spread through Naruto when he realized it was only Kakashi. The man was too tall for the couch and Naruto felt minutely bad for him but still couldn't put the thought of Kakashi having an affair out of his head. He didn't honestly think it was possible for Kakashi, of all people, to have an affair but it still somehow made him weary and afraid.

Another bubble of fear popped in the blond's chest when the man in front of him groaned and slowly opened his eyes to look at Naruto. "Kakashi, why are you sleeping on the couch? You look kinda like crap man." Naruto heard in his own voice the slight shake of his fear of what could have happened but he didn't think that Kakashi would be able to register it, not with the way he was holding his head and groaning in pain anyways. "Here you might need this more than I do." He held out his glass of water to Kakashi who steadily sat up to take it. The obvious fact that Kakashi had a hang over really didn't help ease Naruto's mind about the situation.

"Thanks Naruto, you should go on to bed."

The feeling of needing to anything he could to help made Naruto straighten and act despite what Sasuke had said. "I believe Iruka may have taken the situation from earlier to heart. I've never seen him jealous before." Kakashi nodded along with him. "I don't think he is jealous, maybe he's insecure. He's pretty weird about certain things. As much as I don't enjoy seeing it, I have noticed that you guys have slowed down in the affection area." Naruto didn't know where all of this was coming from, but as he spoke he started to feel better just reminding himself that this was all a misunderstanding and easily fixed with explanations.

It didn't seem like it was helping Kakashi any though. "So you're saying he kicked me out of the room because I don't attack him in front of everyone? So I can fix this by simply kissing him at the breakfast table."

Naruto pulled a face, hadn't he just explained that he didn't like seeing the open affection. "Oh god no. I'm not saying that, not really anyways." Kakashi sighed and Naruto struggled to not pinch his nose at the awful morning breath Kakashi had. He could really tell now that the man had drank some before bed. "For now you just need to make sure he knows that you love him and not the woman you were with today. If I were you I would start calling if I was going to be late." Naruto smirked at Kakashi and pivoted away with a stretch. "Catch ya later bad breath."

Kakashi had made a jab at Naruto's side but he was able to avoid it enough to not be tickled and continued to walk. He felt another wave of gratitude towards Sasuke for talking with him about this and explaining his views on why this thing between Kakashi and Iruka was happening. He wished he could have been able to talk to Sasuke when he was younger about the bullies. It seemed Sasuke had a lot of good ideas about things and could see things happening that Naruto didn't. Instead though they were too busy fighting each other and being brats. And he really wanted to make up lost time, but he knew that it wouldn't take long for them to go back to their arguments and it would probably be a long time before they had a peaceful moment again like today.

When he entered his room and shut out the light Naruto sighed and tried hard to put the negative thoughts away. When he fell into bed he sighed again and buried his face into his pillows. Thoughts of his and Sasuke's recent fights come to mind. They hadn't all been too bad, mostly just small spats. Maybe if he tried harder to not be a fuck up he and Sasuke could have more peaceful moments and maybe even become friends. Naruto groaned into his pillows at the thought. He felt it would be too hard to be anything other than himself and it made everything he wanted seem out of reach.

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**Review and tell me what you think. Also sorry that I keep changing how I write, I feel like it's different each time I update.**


	10. What Is Acceptable

**I know, startling yeah? An update that didn't take a literal month and a half to arrive, unheard of. Please enjoy!**

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It had only been three hours since Sasuke had woken up that morning but the raven was convinced that the only option for the rest of the day was to simply slip back into bed and vanish into a deep sleep. "Hey, what the hell did you do to Naruto?" A very, very, deep sleep.

Sighing, Sasuke glanced over at Kiba who was trying, key word here being 'trying', to quietly whisper-yell at Sasuke for Naruto's unusual actions that morning. He stared at the rough teen in the desk next to him tiredly for a minute; he was not in the mood for the day, let alone Kiba's hasty assumptions. "Nothing." He replied and turned back to the front of the class. Kiba started to reach for Sasuke's shoulder but was stopped when a flying eraser hit the side of his hand.

Kiba and Sasuke both looked down at the eraser, now laying harmlessly on the floor, and then in the direction that it came from. The pitcher was Gaara, who sat right behind Sasuke. The redhead glared at Kiba and shook his head. Normally Sasuke would have given the mutt a superior smirk but he seriously just didn't have it in him to even tease Kiba. He was more likely to succumb to the deep sleep than he was to doing literally anything at this point, even teasing his least favorite nuisance.

Thankfully the eraser attack was enough to end whatever conversation it was that Kiba had been trying to have. "Cheater, having a protective boyfriend." The brunette mumbled sounding very well like he was pouting seriously.

Registering the danger of what Kiba had just said, Sasuke glared over at Kiba who was now actually writing his notes, for once, with pinched concentration. With narrowed eye Sasuke looked around the room for anyone that may have heard the brunette idiot. He didn't have the energy for the day but he knew better than to just let someone get away with starting any kind of rumors like that. No one seemed to have even realized Kiba spoke at all, a shocker really with how loud he was being, so Sasuke tried to relax again and go back to his notes.

Focusing seemed nearly impossible, however, so Sasuke put his pencil down and dug his palms into his eyes and tried again to wish for the deep, deep, unmanageable sleep to just swallow him up. Maybe since he wore his most comfortable jacket it would actually happen. Not that he was tired, he slept well enough after he spent far too long working on a sketch; it was that morning that made him exhausted and irate.

After spending all evening yesterday calming Naruto down and clearing things up about Gaara, Kakashi of all people goes and ruins it by making Sasuke look like a liar first thing in the morning by yelling misleading things at Iruka in the presence of everyone. Why their guardians had assumed fighting so early in the morning was a good idea, Sasuke could only guess, but the things they had said to each other was evidence enough for Sasuke to confirm that growing in age does not mean better control over one's emotions. Also, as a side thought, he wondered if that meant Naruto was doomed.

Because Iruka was being unreasonable, understandably so but still, Kakashi had gotten angry and had said something hurtful. If that hadn't been enough for Naruto to feel hurt and scared, Iruka's mention of banishing Kakashi from the house was sure to do it. Kakashi left after that and Naruto had taken a step towards Iruka and given Sasuke such a betrayed look as he guided Iruka to a chair so he could sit and collect himself. As If Sasuke didn't feel betrayed as well.

Watching Iruka and Naruto cuddling and whispering support to each other somehow in itself made Sasuke feel even more alone and abandoned. It wasn't a feeling that was new though and he knew the damage it had done to him at a younger age, so instead of pulling away Sasuke placed a hand on Iruka's shoulder. As expected Iruka immediately told Sasuke to not worry even though it was definitely Iruka who was shaking and breaking. It took everything for Sasuke to not feel angry at Iruka for not listening and for sending Kakashi away. It did seem to help, he just wasn't sure it was enough to make him any less frustrated with Ituka.

After they got their coats, the rest of the day was apparently meant for silence. Naruto didn't speak for the most part, he nodded and sighed through the greetings they got from their friends and went straight to his first class at the bell. Everyone naturally blamed Sasuke for the blond's attitude and kept encouraging Sasuke to go apologize to Naruto. Even if Sasuke wanted to apologize there wasn't anything to apologize for and he refused to let himself feel guilty. He didn't promise Naruto that everything was going to be ok, he told him that this was a simple mistake that could be solved easily, if their parents hadn't been stupid about it.

The bell rang for the second class of the day and Sasuke sighed in relief as he packed up his books and avoided Kiba's glares as he jetted from the room. As he meandered down the hall he saw Naruto at his locker switching out some books. Without really thinking too much about it Sasuke ended up standing beside Naruto.

After a second Naruto seemed to sense Sasuke's presence and turned to him for a moment before turning back to what he was doing. "What?" Naruto asked zipping his book-bag.

"Everyone thinks I made you sad. I keep being told to tell you that I'm sorry." Naruto just watched Sasuke. Was he expecting an apology? Did Naruto really think this was all Sasuke's fault? Anger boiled up in Sasuke, something familiar to anger anyways, but instead of exploding Sasuke swallowed harshly and tried to ignore the acid taste in his mouth. "Did I?"

The locker door slammed shut and it made Sasuke's nerves bristle and his body tense. The last thing he needed was another fight at school but if Naruto was pulling for one, Sasuke had no qualms giving it to him. "Sasuke." Said male snapped his eyes back up to Naruto from where he had apparently shut them from the sudden tensing his body had done. Naruto's eyes seemed as bright as usual but his body showed tiredness. "Did you get my text this morning?"

Furrowing his brows, Sasuke nodded as he recalled the text. He had woken up to see a string of kissing emojis and hearts from the blonde, and the acronym 'ilysm'. He wasn't sure what it was for so he ignored it to get dressed until he heard the yelling from iruka and Kakashi. Vaguely he thought that he had maybe planned on asking Naruto about it but had forgotten it when the morning took a very bad turn.

"I woke up super early this morning and remembered a huge project we had due in English today. I wouldn't have gotten it done if you didn't nagged me all week to get it done. So I texted you 'cause I was a little crazy with relief." Naruto gave a small smile, and that small lift at the corner of his mouth somehow lifted so much weight from Sasuke's chest. "I want to pay you back for that somehow."

Being able to breathe easily lead to Sasuke being able to register conversation better to which he rose an eyebrow at the blond who tilted his head to the side with a look of being done with Sasuke's sass already. If Naruto was serious about actually wanting to do something, then the raven knew he was going to have to make it something good. Sasuke tapped his chin in thought for what Naruto could do to repay him but really the only thing he was thinking was how relieved he was that Naruto was trying to feel better and that it wasn't him that did this. He was honestly so tired of ruining things.

"Well, you can just think about that, I have class to get to believe it or not." Naruto said with a baiting lilt as he started to walk around Sasuke. The raven caught his arm and Naruto leaned his head back with a grin. "Yes?"

"Don't be mad at Kakashi." The grin dropped and Naruto looked stunned for a second. He stared down at the ground and Sasuke squeezed his arm that he had meant to release, silently pleading that Naruto agree.

Finally the blond head nodded but then he looked back with a look of scary determination. "Only if you stop being made at Iruka."

It honestly stunned Sasuke as much as his own request had stunned Naruto. He wasn't even aware that anyone would have been able to realize that he had held this morning's blame mostly on Iruka. He understood why it was all happening, he knew it was a mixture of both doing and thinking things incorrectly but Sasuke couldn't stop himself from being upset with Iruka more than with Kakashi.

Somehow Sasuke saw in Naruto's face that he thought in the exact same way for Iruka's sake. "Fine." Naruto nodded and pulled his arm out of Sasuke's grip gently before waving and heading to class. He still looked as worried as he had been that morning but Sasuke now knew it wasn't his doings, even if the school thought so.

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"So your parent's fought? I'm sorry to hear it. From what I've seen of them they seem like they fit together pretty well. Are you worried?" Sasuke wanted to answer Gaara'a question with a 'no', whether it be because of his pride or out of reflex but he knew he really was. He gave a small nod and tilted his head back to rest against the wall behind him.

Even after the fight with Kabuto, Gaara and Sasuke still claimed the unused hallway as their own. No one liked walking through here to begin with but after the fight someone said that there was a possession or something so now people think there is a poltergeist in the hallway. Ready to attack the very next soul that enters the 'Hallway that Leads Nowhere', as they have dramatically started calling. Sasuke like to think the whole lot of them were just too stupid to give Kabuto the full blame for what happened.

With everyone on his case, Sasuke had suggested they eat their lunches in the hallway and was relieved when Gaara agreed to it. The idea of having to sit in a room full of people that thought he hurt Naruto made Sasuke feel exhausted all over again. Especially if he would have to sit and watch Naruto overthink things and wear that stupid kicked puppy look that he had been wearing all day.

"Hey." Sasuke looked up and saw that Gaara was leaning close and had his eyes on Sasuke's lips. Giving a nod as the go ahead Gaara kissed him gently and placed a warm hand against Sasuke's. It was a nice distraction for what it was. Simple kisses, barely anything more than a little kid would give a relative, but Sasuke could tell that Gaara held all of his feelings in them. He was so gentle and was careful to not touch Sasuke in anyway other than where their lips touched and their hands were now laced. It felt nice even if he sometimes had to make himself forget that this was Gaara, his best friend.

"Oh my god Sasuke!"

"Kiba grab her!"

Shocked out of his distraction, that Gaara had kindly given him, Sasuke turned to glare down the hall at the sudden commotion. Sakura looked like she had been tazed as Kiba grabbed her around her waist and dragged her her back into the hallway where she was trying to run back out. He watched feeling a shiver go up his spine and then his stomach dropped when he met eyes with Naruto. He looked as exhausted as Sasuke felt but he also seemed nervous and about to shatter. It wasn't what Sasuke associated with the blonde and it unnerved him a lot. If Kakashi didn't fix this asap Sasuke was certain that Naruto would recede into complete oblivion.

Understanding that he needed to help calm Sakura, Sasuke stood and walked towards the three who were all struggling and flailing until he approached. Sakura was talking in broken and incomplete sentences and was staring at everyone, as if expecting them to laugh and announce the joke. "Sakura please calm down." Sasuke rubbed his temples and prayed that the small ache forming in his head was just from Sakura's echoing voice and not from an oncoming migraine.

"You were just, and he." She pointed back at Gaara but then flinched and pointed back at Naruto. "Oh, everything makes sense now!" And then she started laughing. Hysterically so, Kiba was now holding her so she didn't fall over instead of keeping her from running out and telling everyone.

"Hey, uh Sakura? You ok there hun?" Naruto petted her hair back and out of her face as tears rolled down her cheeks and she leaned heavily against Kiba.

The strained brunette seemed close to having his own breakdown. "Dude, Sasuke, I think you broke her brain." Sasuke ignored the 'dude' part and nodded. He was starting to feel uncomfortable.

Another three minutes and she had finally gotten herself under control and Gaara had gone back to the cafeteria to get some ice, just in case. They all sat in a circle as Sasuke explained that, yes, he was gay. He apologized that he didn't tell her before she had to find out this way and she nodded with a small forgiving smile.

Sakura pulled her knees to her chest and picked at her jeans contemplatively. "So you never liked me because you like boys?"

"I never liked you because you chased me around in grade school. Honestly I could blame you for being gay, Sakura." Naruto elbowed Sasuke and glared but Sasuke just rolled his eyes. "Kidding." He sighed out in an attempt to lessen his sharp humor.

Thankfully Sakura seemed to have picked up that he was only joking. "I know." Sakura grinned and giggled to which Kiba scooted away some, afraid to be caught up in her mad laughter again. "It just sort of makes sense now. How distant you started to become, you never hang out with us anymore, I thought it was because I had pushed you too much or maybe you just didn't like any of us anymore. Here its just 'cause you want time with your boyfriend."

"He isn't my boyfriend." Sasuke snapped.

A shocked look appeared on Kiba's and Sakura's face, it made Sasuke feel stupid for getting so defensive. "Right." Sakura said clearing her throat. It didn't seem like she was going to push it. "Either way, now that I get it, you don't have to worry. I wont tell anyone and you can be yourself around me." Sasuke nodded and looked away but still felt a light sensation in his chest.

Gaara came back with the ice and handed it to Sakura who took it with a bright smile. "Aw, Sasuke. I want to hug you!" Sakura gushed and started to crawl across their circle to him but Sasuke held his hand out and leaned away with a frown. "What? why not! I know you don't like me, cant it just be a friend hug?"

"Sakura." Sasuke whined. She seemed too much like a proud relative for the teen to feel comfortable.

"Yeah Sasuke." Naruto encouraged with a tired smirk. Sasuke glared at the blond. Everyone knew Sakura had the strongest hugs, he couldn't imagine how much worse it could be if she was emotional when she hugged someone.

"I'm not taking 'no' as an answer." Sakura laughed as she leapt at Sasuke. Naruto had latched on to Sasuke's arm to keep him from moving and all Sasuke could get out was a weak 'oh' as Sakura landed on top of him with giggles and her arms around his midsection, squeezing all air out of his body. Kiba was howling with laughter at the sight and even Naruto was laughing. Sasuke huffed out a 'help' and saw Gaara lean over him and give a small shrug and a smirk.

Somehow the day had turned into this even with such an awful start. It started to feel like a good day and even after classes started again and Sakura continued to talk to him and hug him through out the day. Naruto finally got loud in their last class instead of being quiet like he had been all day, and Sasuke swears he saw Gaara talking with Kiba and some kid named Lee. If coming out as gay to one of his friends made everyone he knew get a long, Sasuke wandered what would happen if he told everyone.

If he had to guess realistically, not a lot of good things. However, if he had to tell anyone else, Sasuke thought that maybe he should tell his parents of all people. It probably wouldn't be that big of a deal to them, but he should probably tell them. Sasuke glanced back at his red headed friend, who was again sat right behind him. He wondered if he should tell his parents about Gaara?

The teen was working on his assignment diligently and with precision like he always did. Sasuke could see the small hand writing and ridiculously swirly cursive that he used to emphasize words, and felt a sort of fondness for his friend, but that's where it ended. He still couldn't feel anything past friendly love for Gaara and he was starting to feel guilty for using his friends feelings as a distraction.

When it was time to leave and Gaara tried to kiss Sasuke's cheek the raven pulled away and shook his head. Gaara gave a nod and waved him goodbye as he headed out to where Naruto was waiting for him. Even though Gaara hadn't seemed perturbed by the denied kiss, Sasuke could still tell that it made him feel rejected. It was enough to make the small guilt grow in his stomach. He again thought deeply about where his and Gaara's relationship should be.

"Hey, you look pretty bumbed again. Sakura hug you too tightly or something?" Naruto asked as Sasuke fell into step with him and shook his head. "Hey, whats up?" Sasuke looked over at Naruto and saw that he genuinely seemed concerned despit the attempt at a joke.

Feeling like he couldn't afford to ruin all the good that had somehow happened that day, Sasuke decided to just out with it for once. "Gaara tried to kiss me on the cheek."

Naruto started laughing. Sasuke shoved him hard and the blond almost slipped down the hill. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Do you understand how silly that sounded just now though?" Sasuke grimaced and kept walking, no longer feeling like sharing was a good idea. "You have kissed Gaara on the mouth at least three times. Why wouldn't a cheek kiss be ok? I mean unless it was in front of someone who doesn't know."

Sasuke sighed and stopped outside of the grade school building, Naruto stopped as well and looked at him expectantly. "We were alone." There was a rock in Sasuke's shoe, he isn't sure how it got there but he decided to lean down and dig it out.

Naruto dropped down into a squat and rose his eyebrows at Sasuke. "Ok and?"

The rock really hurt, Sasuke wondered how he hadn't noticed it until now. "And, i just didn't want him to. He kisses me too much." Sasuke finally got the rock out and straightened only to still feel off and uncomfortable. Standing as well, Naruto still wore a concerned but expecting look. "I don't want to date him, I want him to be my best friend. I like the kisses a lot, but I feel like the kisses are getting in the way of what we use to have." Naruto grabbed his book-bag straps and fiddled with them as he watched Sasuke's face. It made the raven feel exposed and squirmy.

"Sasuke, do you want to break up with Gaara?" Sasuke started to protest that he and Gaara couldn't break up because they weren't even in that sort of relationship but Naruto held up his hands. "No, I just mean. Do you want to ask him to stop kissing you? I get it if ya do, it would be hard dealing with Kiba constantly wanting to kiss me." Sasuke groaned at the thought and yanked the school door open as Naruto followed and laughed.

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When Naruto and Sasuke met up with Iruka in the classroom he seemed fairly ok and spoke with them as he normally would and inquired about their day, which they refrained from saying much. The redness around Iruka's eyes was prominent enough for Sasuke to see that the teacher hadn't been this strong all day. Had the circumstances been better Sasuke would have told Iruka about coming out to Sakura and how that had surprisingly turned out a million times better than he would have ever thought it would. However, after about ten minutes longer Iruka sighed and announced that they eventually had to go home, so they helped him clean up for Monday.

Naruto didn't say much as they traveled home but was sure to fill in any silent moments as best he could. Because Naruto was lacking his usual eagerness, Sasuke tried to think of topics to keep the noise and distraction up but wasn't use to this role. It made him realize how much work Naruto does to be the clown that he is. When they arrived home Sasuke was in the middle of trying to convince Naruto to get Sakura to stop hugging so much when they entered the living room to see that Kakashi was already home. Both teens went silent as they tried to calculate the best reaction. Beside him, Sasuke could feel Naruto tensing up, so the raven did the only logical thing he could think of, leave so the adults could speak. He grabbed the front of Naruto' shirt and dragged him off so that Kakashi and Iruka could talk things out.

Surprisingly Naruto didn't complain and even continued to follow when Sasuke released his hold on him half way down their hallway. Naruto followed Sasuke in to the raven's room and silently climbed onto the bed. The blonde was fidgety but quiet, so Sasuke decided it was alright for now. They sat in Sasuke's room for a few minutes, just sitting and playing with their phones, when Sasuke got a text from Gaara. 'How are things?'

Just about that time Sasuke could hear Iruka and Kakashi's muffled voices. 'Their talking right now' He sent back.

Sasuke's phone buzzed again but he ignored it for the moment to pull out his sketchbook. "Let me draw you." Naruto flopped over on the bed, causing it to bounce, with his head propped up on his hand and wiggled his eyebrows. "Do you have to make the same joke every time?"

"Yes." He answered plainly before sitting up and moving so that he was across from the raven again. "You going to check those?" Sasuke looked down to his phone where Naruto had pointed.

He now had three messages. Two from Gaara. 'Hope it all goes well.' and 'Is that all that's bothering you?. Then one from Sakura, a picture message of her in a store wearing a short pink dress. 'Should I get it?' Was the message sent along with the photo.

"Hn. Your kidding me." Naruto looked up from his phone and leaned over to see what had caused Sasuke sound annoyed. "Is she going to treat me like the 'gay friend' stereotype?" Sasuke asked already feeling exasperated.

A grin spread across Naruto's face. "I think it looks nice. What are you going to tell her?"

"Well." Sasuke thought about it for a moment. "Obviously I'm going to tell her to buy a loose belt to go with it but that is beside the point!" Instead of laughing like Sasuke had expected Naruto looked struck and even dropped his jaw dramatically to exaggerate it. "What?"

"Sasuke no, that dress doesn't look like it's suppose to be held down with a belt, she should definitely just let it be all flowy and cute." Tapping his chin and humming, Naruto continued to think way too hard about it in Sasuke's opinion. "A sun hat would look cute."

Shaking his head Sasuke moved his phone away from the blond. "Oh please, like Sakura needs to hide from the sun anymore than she already does. She needs to tan up if she wants to pull off that colour." Sasuke started to text her just that when Naruto and Sasuke both heard Iruka and Kakashi yelling back and fourth 'is not' and 'is so'. He sent the message to Sakura containing his and Naruto's ideas and then turned to Naruto, who seemed just as curious, and nodded his head at him. They both left Sasuke's room and split up to find out what was going on.

Sasuke saw that Naruto found Iruka in the living room so he figured he would check the kitchen. His guardian was messing around with food preparation and humming lightly to himself, so it was safe to assume things hadn't gone too horribly. Patiently he sat down at the table and waited for Kakashi to notice him.

When he did notice, he appeared happy enough and it made Sasuke feel more at ease, but he had to make sure. "Alright Sasuke, What is it? Are you going to boil me in tomato juice?" Kakashi smirked at his own joke and Sasuke glared before rolling his eyes.

When he motioned for Kakashi to sit, his parent did but raised an eyebrow at him. Sasuke saw over Kakashi's shoulder that they were having an Alfredo dinner but there weren't any prepared tomatoes. Sasuke took a breath and put that topic aside for later. "For now I'm going to ignore your choice in dinner. We need to talk about a certain annoying alcoholic that always seems to make my day worse." Sasuke saw Kakashi's mouth turn downward. "Have you explained to Iruka that Anko is just an overly touchy nitwit? You obviously didn't do anything with her, and if you did I swear I will disown you after stick you in the worst nursing home I can find."

Kakashi rolled his eyes with a smirk and stood as he answered. "No, Sasuke I didn't do anything with her, yes I explained it. Iruka is still kinda peeved but as far as I know things are alright. Just in case I'm going to make a nice dinner." That being apparently the end of it all, Kakashi went back to preparing the chicken.

Not seeing any movements to correct the lack of tomatoes, Sasuke decided to do it himself since he no longer needed to feel concerned about a splitting family. He went to the fridge and decided on two of the ripest tomatoes he could find before bringing them to the cutting board next to Kakashi. They worked carefully around each other, or rather Sasuke handed Kakashi things when he asked for them, until Kakashi ruffled Sasuke's hair and ruined what Sasuke would have considered a nice moment.

"Can you not." Sasuke snapped tugging his sleeves back up his arm in annoyance. He had already stained this jacket once before, he wasn't about to do it again because kakashi was a buffoon.

"Sasuke, how has life been to you? We haven't talked in a while, am I losing you? Has my baby boy stopped loving me?" Kakashi asked dramatically draping his arms around the raven's shoulders.

"Yes he has." After shoving off Kakashi, Sasuke ran his hands through his hair and tried once more to finish dicing his tomatoes in peace. As he took up the knife though the started to remember everything that happened that day and the thoughts about telling his parents about Gaara. If he was going to tell either of them it would probably be safer to tell Kakashi. He could always test the situation with a sort of vague question. "Kakashi, how do you know if you're dating someone if neither of you have asked the other out?"

The man stopped and turned to Sasuke in wonder, he shook himself out of his stupor and cleared his throat to answer. "Usually if no one asks, then you're not really dating. It depends on what the situation is." Sasuke nodded in thought. "Is something like that happening to you?"

"Gaara." quickly Sasuke snapped his mouth shut. He forgot how easy it was to talk to Kakashi. It had always felt like the right thing to just spill everything to Kakashi, and it felt so now. He turned to look at Kakashi so he could properly explain. "Gaara kissed me, kisses me." He amended, he didn't want to lie. "At first it was just to make Naruto go away, but now when he comes over we sometimes kiss." Maybe a little bit of lie, he didn't want him to worry about their relationship at school. "He just sometimes pulls my sketchbook away and it just happens." Sasuke unconsciously grabbed his raven necklace and ran his thumb over the warm metal to calm himself. He could feel the frustration of everything starting to make him a little too nervous. "I'm not sure of what he thinks that makes us, but I definitely don't want anything with him. I'm not entirely sure why I don't punch him when he does do that." Again Sasuke snapped his mouth shut to stop anymore word vomit from escaping.

Now feeling out of breath Sasuke placed a hand on the counter to steady himself in case he passed out. He wanted to say more but bit the inside of his cheek to keep from continuing his nervous babble. He hated it, but he had to admit that it felt nice to talk to Kakashi, Now he just hopes Kakashi isn't ashamed of him or angry at his adoptive son for being dissolute.

"See now, when you say he just grabs you and kisses you," Kakashi looked up at the ceiling and narrowed his eyes, Sasuke wasn't sure what that meant. He licked his lips then looked at Sasuke once more and the raven prepared for a lecture. "It's consensual?"

An alleviation for sure, but Sasuke wanted to laugh at the question."Yes, Kakashi, I'm not being raped." Gaara may look scary but he is honestly the least likely to fight let alone force himself onto someone and Sasuke trusted his friend to never hurt him.

Kakashi gave a small shake of his head though."I'm not joking. You should never let anyone pressure you into anything. Even guys can be pushed into doing things they don't want to." Simply nodding seemed like the best route at this point. Sasuke knew Gaara wouldn't ever do anything like that but he knew Kakashi more than likely didn't only mean this advice to be applied to Gaara. "Now, about this random kissing thing; if you don't want to date him, be sure to make it clear to him. I know you and Naruto don't exactly get along, but if it makes you feel better you can have Naruto there as well to make sure things don't turn out badly."

While Sasuke though everything over, Kakashi continued to get things ready. Slowly Sasuke diced the last his tomatoes, all the while his brow was furrowed in concentration. "If I tell Gaara I don't want to date him, he will stop kissing me right?" The question slipped out. Kakashi shrugged as he stirred the pot of noodles he was making. "What if that's all I want? Isn't that a bit whorish, if all I want is to kiss." Keeping his head low Sasuke forced his eyes to not peek to see what his guardian's reaction would be to such a question.

"No it's not being a whore." Kakashi seemed like he was on the verge of a panic. Maybe talking this much with his guardian wasn't such a great idea. "Sometimes people want to do stuff with other people, but they don't exactly want a relationship. It doesn't make you a bad person or anything. It just means you're frustrated and want to express it in a physical manner. As long as you're safe, don't go too far with it, and both parties know that a relationship isn't part of the equation then it's alright. I suppose, maybe you should ask Iruka to confirm that."

"You mean check with Iruka to make sure you didn't just tell me that I could go be with whoever I wanted." Kakashi shrugged and it made Sasuke laugh quietly. "Don't worry, I got it."

"Good, I don't think I would have been able to explain it in any other way." Sasuke rolled his eyes as he swiped the cubes of tomatoes into a bowl. Kakashi ruffled his hair again and moved away quickly to avoid being hit. "Just expect me to pop in more now that I know Gaara has an interest in you. Should I make you leave your door open?"

Mortified Sasuke snapped. "No! I knew telling you was a bad idea." With that Sasuke left taking his bowl of tomatoes with him.

"Love you son!" Sasuke flipped Kakashi the bird as he left the room. He should have said it was someone else, like that Lee kid in class. Lee never comes over so it wouldn't have been that big a deal for Kakashi to think it was Lee. Then again, Kakashi would probably suspect Sasuke had been lying if he ever saw the bushy-browed kid. Either way, as he walked back to his room he felt better. He knew that Kakashi hadn't told him anything he didn't already know or suspect, but talking had helped some. Now he could think better and while he walked a bought of courage made Sasuke determined to tell Gaara that their relationship should remain at the friendship boundaries. He felt good about the decision even, relieved.

Kakashi had suggested bringing Naruto if he talked to Gaara in person, but Sasuke didn't think that would be necessary. Besides, it was a private matter that Naruto's presence would probably make extremely awkward.

As he entered his room and saw his phone on his bed, the raven remember he never did message Gaara back. putting the tomatoes on his desk, he picked up his phone and typed out a quick message before the courage he felt could falter. 'They are good now. Do you think we could move away from the kissing.' He sent it and then quickly picked up his sketchbook to distract himself from regretting things. Even as he mindlessly drew in his book he still felt the twisting feeling of anticipation and worry picking away at his determination.

The phone started ringing, not just his text notification, a full on ring. "Shit." Sasuke picked it up and answered. "Hello."

"Hey. I needed to tell you that I'm asexual." Sasuke froze, what did that have to do with what they were talking about?

"Ok, I'm glad you told me. But, Gaara, what does that have to do with what I texted you about?" While he waited for an answer Sasuke picked at his nails. It was a habit that he wasn't sure he would ever quite.

"You said you wanted to move away from kissing. I don't think I could do that comfortably. Especially not so early in a relationship or in a relationship that isn't even real." It started to click slowly in Sasuke's head and he, for the second time that day, felt mortified.

"Gaara! No that isn't what I had been implying. No! I was trying to ask you if you would hate me if I asked to stop kissing. Just go back to being best friends like we were or would it ruin everything?" Gaara made a sound of understanding and then silence. "I realize I shouldn't have took advantage of your feelings and I am sorry, but I don't think I want to continue."

Thankfully Gaara replied quickly, and while his tone was as dry as usual, Sasuke could tell there wasn't any ill will. "Yeah, we can do that. Also, you shouldn't feel sorry. I'm the one that kissed you, so I'm sorry that I made you uncomfortable. Friends?" Sasuke sighed heavily and nodded before remembering that Gaara wasn't there to see it. They continued to talk for a few more minutes. Eventually though Gaara had to take a call from someone else so they hung up and Sasuke leaned back against his pillows feeling light headed and exhausted. The day had held a lot for him and it felt nice for the most part.

His phone buzzed with a message. Sasuke groaned when he read it. 'i think Iruka and Kakashi are in trouble. Im kinda freaking outt' Standing up, Sasuke headed to Naruto's room to explain that everything was fine. His plan after that was to pass out, for sure. Things may be getting better but that deep sleep hadn't stopped calling to the raven and he was only barely keeping himself from being pulled in. Unfortunately when he arrived at Naruto's room it became clear that Naruto was, in fact, freaking out and that this would probably take more time than he thought.

* * *

**Hey, hope you liked it. I changed a a couple of things that I had messed up in the first story so sorry if things may be confusing if your comparing it to 'Let's Get Along'. I'm not sure if it all flows, but here it is. Please review! Thank you.**


	11. He's An Exception

**Buckle up kids, this one is gonna be gay. Also there is a small fight where the word "queer" is used as a slur. Just a heads up.**

* * *

Sasuke took longer than expected to come back from his conversation with Kakashi and it sent Naruto's already over whelmed mind into over drive. He wasn't sure what he should expect with it taking so long. Naturally his mind jumped to the worst scenarios that it could and formed elaborate images of each scenario. The thought of Kakashi demanding that Sasuke go pack and be ready to leave soon was enough to make Naruto feel queezy and grind the heel of his palm into his eyes.

'_Maybe Sasuke is taking so long because he can't find Kakashi. Maybe Kakashi left everyone behind.'_

"No." The thought was immediately tossed out of Naruto's head. As shaky as things were he knew Kakashi would never abandon them. As dirty as the man was, he was a good person and loyal to a fault.

"Oh man." Naruto whined as he fiddled with his shirt sleeve nervously. The blond wasn'y meant for all of this stress. Naruto Uzumaki was made for naps, playing games with his friends, and being excessively optimistic at all times. This stress wasn't good for him, Naruto could practically feel himself growing older by the seconds. "Damn it, Sasuke hurry!" He checked his phone for the time but didn't completely register so had to check again.

Figuring he needed to be distracted anyways Naruto opened up his texts and sent a message to Kiba about the weekend in an attempt to distract himself. As an after thought though Naruto lingered and stared at Sasuke's contact name. Texts between the two of them, Naruto and Sasuke, usually comprised of Naruto sending emoji's and silly things or them bicker silently after Iruka fusses at them for being too loud. Naruto wondered if it was worth possibly being fussed at to text Sasuke, just to check on things. Yes, he decided.

'i think Iruka and Kakashi are in trouble. im kinda freaking outt!'

If there was a time when he thought he would be able to text Sasuke for support like this, and it not feel weird, Naruto would have felt concerned for himself. The fact that he could was something he was thankful for though. Especially when only about ten seconds later he heard a knocking at his door. "Come in." Sasuke entered the room and it eased Naruto more than a simple text possible could have.

"Ok listen. Talked to Kakashi and he said they talked everything out and that things are fine. Iruka is still not happy but its only because he needs to unwind from being so scared and stiff for the last couple days." Sasuke sighed and shifted his stance, "There, now calm down before you cause yourself an earlier death than your probably already going to have." Before Naruto could completely get what all it was Sasuke had to say, the other teen had turned to leave.

As if almost and hour and a half of worrying could be settled so quickly. "Wait!" Naruto jumped from his bed to grab a hold of Sasuke's arm and pull him further into the room, which the raven definitely didn't appreciate. "What do you mean? I saw Iruka and he was definitely not ok." The glare fell from Sasuke's face and was replaced with a confused frown.

Naruto let Sasuke think for a minute and chewed on his lip to keep himself from feeling too antsy and pacing like he had been doing earlier. Seeming to come up with nothing, Sasuke sighed and placed his free hand on his hip. The muscles underneath Naruto's grip felt tense as Sasuke squared himself "What makes you think Iruka isn't ok?"

Doubt, Sasuke was doubting the 'ok-ness' of the situation and Naruto could see it, and it made his stomach swirl. "Ok, um, when I went to talk to him he was jumpy and his voice kept changing. Like he was nervous or something." Patiently Sasuke nodded. Naruto mimicked the movement and released the raven now that he was sure he would remain there listening. "I asked him if he was ok and he told me everything was fine," Stiffly Naruto began to pace in front of his audience. "then told me to go bother you. But, not just that, he seemed like he didn't want to tell me something."

"He-" Sasuke started, his brows were furrowed. "He asked you to bother me? Why?"

"I don't know! He just wanted me to go to you for some reason but I thought you were still with Kakashi. I think he was just trying to get rid of me, that doesn't seem like something Iruka would do if he was ok." Sasuke nodded in agreement. Agreement! Naruto was just about ready to go investigate Iruka again and demand the truth but stayed to hear what Sasuke would say about it.

"It's still ok." Naruto snapped from his thoughts and focused on Sasuke again. "Both parents confirmed that everything was ok, so we just have to believe them for now. It's not technically our place to worry about it." A chilled sort of stunned feeling enveloped Naruto. Sasuke had his arms crossed and was glaring at the floor between them; it was obvious even to Naruto the Sasuke was concerned about the situation as well.

No matter how easily it was for Sasuke to push away his concerns, Naruto was sure it was impossible for his own self to do so. "I can't help but worry. This is my family, yours to, y'know?" The glare on Sasuke's pale features lessoned but still held tension. It almost looked like the comment had hurt Sasuke in some fragmented like way. It was enough for Naruto to reconsider continuing the thought process he was on.

The atmosphere changed again and it made Naruo feel squirmy, which made him want to fill the silence again. "So, um, did something good happen?"

Startled by the abrupt topic change, the raven looked up, forgetting to hold his glare in place. "Why do you ask?"

Shrugging Naruto tried to figure out how to pick his wording, to ease them into an atmosphere that didn't feel like a minefeild. "You seemed less grumpy than usual when you walked in." Naruto offered Sasuke a smile to show that he only meant it as a tease.

Sasuke pursed his lips. "Nothing."

"Oh come on Sasuke you can tell me." Naruto nudged the teen which earned him a glare. "Pretty please?" Sasuke turned his head away. "How about a tomato based please?"

Surprisingly Sasuke huffed dramatically and rolled his eyes. "Stop! I'm not _that_ obsessed with tomatoes." Naruto rose an eyebrow at him to express his disbelief. "I just talked with Gaara is all. We sort of settled a few things."

When Sasuke didn't continue Naruto cocked his head to express his impatients. "Well, continue."

"And nothing, you don't need to know everything!"

"I don't know anything, all I know is that you talked to Gaara. Did you tell him you don't want to kiss." Hesitantly Sasuke nodded once. "And he took it well?"

"Naruto!" Sasuke again snapped. Naruto put his hands up and Sasuke turned away stare down a poster on the wall.

The first natural reaction was to get angry at the snappy way Sasuke bristled, but after only a second Naruto began to feel guilty in a way. Examining Sasuke's face revealed that the teen was uncomfortable and possibly even embarrassed, even though Naruto knew that Hell would literally freeze over before Sasuke admitted to such feelings. Just as Naruto started to apologize for being pushy and nosy they both heard Naruto's door opening. "Naruto, dinner." Both stared at Iruka for a moment unsure of what to do but just seeing the brunette made Naruto feel the bubbliness of worry for their parents again.

"Iruka!" Naruto flung himself away from Sasuke and crashed into his guardian. As soon as he had crashed into the brunnette Naruto felt them tipping over but Iruka was able to grip the side of the door to keep them stable. "What's wrong Naruto?" Fingers ran through blond hair and it made Naruto question how long it's been since he last hugged his parent. He decided it was too long and squeezed Iruka even tighter. " What's going on? Oh not this again. Did you guys accidentally kiss or something?" Naruto froze and squeezed and groaned into Iruka's chest.

"No! For once the dobe actually kept to himself. You said dinner was ready right? Then let's go." Sasuke stomped towards Naruto and grabbed the blonde's shirt to drag him away. Naruto hissed when Sasuke's nails scraped across his skin and flailed dramatically as he was pulled away.

After he was pulled out of Iruka's sight Naruto stopped the show he had been putting on and attempted to tug away from his capture. " I can walk for myself."

The fist twisted in his shirt released him. "Then prove it." Naruto growled and grumbled as he walked down the hall way past Sasuke and into the kitchen.

Naruto sat down and waited for the others to sit as well. It took him a moment before he realized that Kakashi had already dished out food for everyone. He looked down at the chicken and noodles all covered in Alfredo sauce, it seemed well prepared and delicious like always. He hoped he continued to have meals like this from both Kakashi and Iruka, even if it meant having to sit next to Sasuke who had bumped into him as he sat down. The look Sasuke had given him afterwards showed that it had been on purpose.

Iruka told them they could eat but Naruto couldn't Bring himself to put much of his typical gusto into it as he lost himself in thoughts of what a split up would mean for all of them. Everyone was quiet and it wasn't at all how a normal meal between them usually went. Iruka seemed a little bit better but not enough so that Naruto felt that Sasuke was right, not just yet anyways.

"So did you guys kiss again?" Kakashi asked as if the comment was an off handed reference to the weather. The man not even making it a big enough deal to look up from twirling his noodles.

"No we didn't! Jeez, why do people keep asking us that?" Honestly though, it was a long time ago. He didn't like remembering it from the embarrassment but also because he really thought he was going to lose a tooth that day. It hurt even if he had made an ingenious joke that day.

"I'll take your word for it." Kakashi smirked a little but the room went uncomfortably silent again after that.

Since the only distraction so far was gone now, Naruto decided to watch Iruka for any signs, of what? Naruto wasn't sure. However he did notice that Iruka seemed like he was struggling with some kind of thought. He even looked up at Naruto as if he were going to say something but then looked away quickly. It was already hard for Naruto to catch onto social ques but this was getting ridiculously impossible for the blonde to figure out. Why couldn't people just be honest with how they felt?

A nudge from his right made Naruto look over at the raven. Onyx eyes were narrowed and he was mouthing something that Naruto couldn't completely understand but somehow knew Sasuke was trying to tell him to keep his mouth shut. When he glanced back at Iruka and saw how red and uncomfortable his parent seemed he immediately decided that he couldn't do that.

"I can't take it any more. Iruka, are you and Kakashi ok?" Iruka and Kakashi both looked up at his outburst and Iruka dropped his mouth but no words came out.

Sasuke stood next to him and even grabbed his arm tightly. "Naruto you idiot! i told you-"

"Shut it duck butt. I'm getting answers here." The name hadn't meant to be anymore than a light tease but the look on Sasuke's face was enough for Naruto to realize that it may have been just that one step too much.

Through gritted teeth Sasuke ground out, "Excuse me, what did you just call me, you joke." A familiar rush of anger flared in Naruto's chest and heat filled his checks. How long had it been since they argued like this?

"That's right, duck butt head, what ya gonna do about it? Peck me or lay an egg?"

Some how it seemed like that made Sasuke even more angry despite it probably being the worst taunt Naruto had ever given. "At least I don't act like a wild smelly animal!" By this time both Sasuke and Naruto were standing and leaning into each other as the verbal fight continued into even worse and half thought up insults.

Something small in the back of Naruto's mind had realized that he wasn't the only one that wasn't use to name calling anymore. Even Sasuke was re-using taunts he usually saved for Kiba. "I do not smell bad! I smell like awesomeness! You're the one that could use a shower jerk." Again, Naruto was rusty, and he cringed at how childish he knew he sounded but he wasn't about to back down.

"As if you loser!"

"Bastard!"

"Dumbass!"

"Anti-social emo!"

"Obnoxious freak!

They both had taken it too far by this point and Naruto had enough of it. Blindly he reached for Sasuke, twisting his hand in the raven's shirt and jacket, and wasn't surprised when Sasuke did the same. They both drew back fists, Naruto was so ready despite the idea of being punched in return for punching Sasuke. It had been a long time since he got into a physical fight and he felt like he really needed to let loose some tension anyways.

"Alright alright, back to your corners." Kakashi ordered calmly as he appeared suddenly behind Sasuke with his hand around Sasuke's fist. Sasuke pulled his arms from Kakashi and crossed them across his chest. Naruto glared and tried hard not to regret that argument. He knew it was technically his fault that time. "Now what the hell just happened right here?"

"Naruto came to me telling me that after you guys had the big fight that Iruka was acting weirdly and told him to come bother me. I told him what kakashi said but he said it didn't make sense with how weird Iruka had been acting. I tried telling him that I was sure that wasn't going to happen. But-

"But then dinner started and you guys weren't acting the same!" Naruto interrupted earning an icy glare from Sasuke. "Iruka seemed so flustered and upset, and you guys didn't even try to see what was going on. Kakashi, you didn't even mess with Sasuke!" Naruto heaved a bit as he finished. "We don't want you guys to split up."

Iruka looked over to Sasuke who gave one curt nod. "Guys, Kakashi and I aren't going to split up. I'm still a bit upset about what happened but it isn't really at Kakashi, just that the situation got like that."

The feeling of being stupid started to come back. Naruto really just wished he would have asked instead of making everything bigger than it was, which he partially blamed on Sasuke and his weird facination with privacy. "So you're not going to kick Kakashi and duck butt out?" Sasuke hissed a bit at being called that but didn't say anything as Iruka answered.

"No. Even if we did split up I wouldn't just kick them out onto the street." Naruto felt tension drain from his body when Iruka turned to look at Kakashi. They smiled at each other and the blonde saw Kakashi graze their fingers together lovingly with a goofy grin.

"He would miss me too much anyways. Iruka could never get rid of me." Kakashi said snaking his arms around Iruka's waist making him blush but roll his eyes. While the affection wasn't Naruto's favourite thing it was nice to see them close again, even if he was subjected to seeing Kakashi kissing all up on his parent.

Once Iruka had wrestled away kakashi's advances, he turned back to Naruto and Sasuke with a timid smile. "Anyways, now that that's out of the way, can we finish our meal?" Carefully Naruto chanced a look over to Sasuke and hated that guilt started re-fester in his stomach. He use to never feel guilt like this when they fought.

"I'm not hungry." Sasuke walked away from the table, ignoring their parents as he went.

"Don't mind him, he is just upset because he can't lay eggs from his hair." Naruto commented sitting down at the table with a numb feeling. Unfortunately Iruka hadn't found it funny and had smacked the back of his head for it. "Ow! What was that for?" Naruto knew what that was for.

"You shouldn't talk about people's hair like that! You both should apologize to each other, you guys said some pretty terrible stuff back there. I thought that you two were past childish name calling?" Naruto shrank a bit in his chair and tried to give his best kicked puppy look. As usual though Iruka wasn't buying it.

With a huff Naruto pushed his chair back and stood. "I don't really want to apologize to him right now. I'm just going to go to my room. G'night Iruka, g'night Kakashi." No one objected so Naruto left and did just as he had said.

Just before he settled down completely for the night though, he did send an apology text. Nothing flowery or dramatic. He simply sent 'sorry' and was surprised when he got a 'same' in return. It was enough he supposed. So Naruto decided to start writing in one of his journals until he eventually would pass out. Somehow, even though Sasuke had apparently forgiven him, it felt like the fight was still happening.

* * *

It was nippy outside but Naruto had thought that the weather would warm up as the day had gone on. He had been very wrong since it had instead gotten colder with sudden gusts of artic-like wind. Which was a good metaphor for how Sasuke and his relationship had been going so far. While Naruto walked in the cold with his hands shoved into his pockets, he tried to reevaluate, for the millionth time, what exactly had happened with himself and Sasuke this time. He wondered why things were always back and forth between them, no matter how many times he and the raven made a truce, things always went south.

"I guess it isn't as bad as when we were kids." The spoken thought made Naruto smirk to himself and turn his face away from the incoming wind. While he and Sasuke hadn't really been talking this weekend, they weren't beating the snot out of each other, that had to have been an improvement.

Sasuke seemed less rigid but also, recently, less talkative. Somehow though, he also seemed more apt to share important things, when prodded to do so, and less argumentative when facing Naruto's suggestions. It was strange but Naruto felt like things were slowly easing into something better even if they were currently in a funk with each other. If he were lucky, he figured that by the end of high school they could probably call each other friends. It was good, tedious, but good.

A buzzing in Naruto's pocket brought the blond from his thoughts and back to his current task. The entire reason he was braving the cold was to meet up with Kiba in the park, and also to make himself feel better with some human interaction other than his family. Naruto smiled at a cafe worker and felt victorious when the older woman game a small smile in return. Being around people was the best, even if they didn't pay attention to him, Naruto enjoyed the buzz of people around him. So he kept walking towards his destination waving at anyone he could and only getting a few responses. When he made it to a dollar store he halted to check his phone.

There were two messages. One from Iruka asking if he had taken a jacket when he left the house -whoops- and one from Kiba telling him to hurry.

"Impatient." Naruto rolled his eyes. He and Kiba weren't thinking it would be this cold so Naruto was very confident in his guess that the brunette was standing and shivering like Naruto was. Either way Naruto was doing this, cold weather be damned, but first it was Naruto's turn to buy the drinks for the day.

A shoulder collided with Naruto's left one, nearly forcing the blond to lose his grip on his phone. "Damn." He mumbled to himself as he juggled to catch his phone, which he did, nice.

"Be careful, ya queer."

Naruto's eye shot up from where he had caught his phone and saw a group of kids walking away, one in the back peeking over his shoulder at Naruto. The kept walking and didn't do or say anything else but it was enough to get Naruto's blood boiling. They looked like some of the younger kids that had been influenced by Kabuto and his gang. Just great, now the younger kids were trying to form a little gang. After a few calming breaths Naruto shook his head at the incident.

Decidedly moving on from it with a sigh, Naruto quickly grabbed the drinks, paid for them, and left for the park which wasn't far away. He arrived in less the five minutes. When he arrived Kiba was already practicing free throws with Lee and a kid that Naruto knew was in their grade, He thought for a second, Shino? Disappointment flooded Naruto when he saw that they were all either wearing jackets or warm looking long sleeved shirts.

"Hey guys I have the drinks, I didn't know-" Naruto rose an eyebrow and hoped for the best. "Shino, was here. You want me to run back and get you something?" Shino gave a miniscule shrug and looked away. It made Naruto grin; it wasn't often that he and Shino hung out but it never ceased to amaze him that Shino could seem so scary but be so chill.

"Yeah you should run back and get me some chips while your at it. I didn't eat before I came here and I am hungry." Naruto rolled his eyes at his friend's loud exclamation.

While Naruto knew that Kiba was probably just joking, Lee took Kiba's lack of a breakfast as a sign that the brunette was going to drop dead. Naruto quickly started to shuffle away as Lee started his rant. "Kiba, one should not deny the body food, especially breakfast, it is the fuel that ensures your bodies capabilities of the day!" Kiba covered his ears and grimaced.

Quickly Kiba ran to catch up with Naruto when he saw that the blond had already taken off. "On second thought, let me come with ya, then I can force you to buy an expensive kind." As they walked Naruto shoved at his best friend for being a dick. They laughed and joked on their way and soon enough Kiba started ranting about Hinata and basketball and everything in between. Just before they entered the store though, Kiba grabbed hold of Naruto's shoulder to stop him. When the blonde turned back to his friend he could tell something was up. His mouth was frowning in a tight line and his brows were turned upward. Kiba almost looked scared as he took a deep breath meant to relax him but the blond could see his friend tensing up.

"I'm going to tell her that I like her. I'm going to ask Hinata out." The hand still gripping Naruto's shoulder seemed rigid, as did the rest of Kiba's body. It was understood that Kiba wasn't big on talking about feelings, and Naruto knew he wasn't the best at dealing with them, so this situation was somewhat confusing for the blond. The most he normally got out of Kiba was 'I'm hungry' which was perfectly ok to Naruto. Now though it looked like Kiba was struggling through his discomfort to seek out some type of support.

Quickly Naruto put on the biggest grin he could and placed his hand heavily on Kiba's should making his friend dip a little. "That's great! Its about time you grew some balls." Kiba narrowed his eyes but then laughed and shook his head.

This is the point where Naruto was going to try to build up Kiba's confidence by ensuring his friend that Hinata liked him back and that if she didn't there were plenty of other girls that were into him, but over Kiba's shoulder Naruto saw a group of guys with one that looked like he was from the group that had called him gay. Quickly Naruto dropped his hand from Kiba's shoulder and shrugged off the hand that was on his own. The sudden action made Kiba look up at him with confusion but then he traced his friend's line of sight.

"Sorry to enterupt you with your boyfriend, by all means, go back to making out." The apparent leader of the group halted next to the two and sneered. It Floored Naruto in honesty, was he being bullied right now? If so these kids were bad at it.

Where Naruto was just going to let it be, Kiba was obviously ready to fight. "That sounds like you want to see two guys kissing. Got something you wanna fess up to kid?" Later Naruto would probably laugh at the reaction Kiba had gotten but at the moment Naruto's skin bristled, just waiting for what might happen next.

"Shut up, you two are the only gay ones here." Seriously Naruto was nearly cringing. Even when they were in grade school Naruto was sure that not even his and Sasuke's name calling sounded this childish. Hell, their name calling now didn't even feel this half baked.

Was Kiba not seeing how cringy this was? "Um, dude, I'm not gay. Not that there is anything wrong with being gay, you little knit-wit." One of the three teens behind the guy that had been talking looked as if they were going to step up to fight Kiba but the leader held his arm out to block their advances. Kiba smirked at the guy like the antagonist he is.

The leader of the wanna be gang turned his attention to Naruto but spoke to Kiba. "If you hang out with him you will be. Sasuke turned him gay, and he'll turn you guy. We already saw you hugging." The gang's leader turned back to Kiba with a grimace. "Maybe it's already to late."

That was it, Kiba started to open his mouth but Naruto took a step forward. "Gay isn't a disease."He growled out with his with narrowed eyes. He took another step and the leader faltered back. "At least you better hope so." Naruto curled his mouth into a crooked grin.

"Wh-what?" The teen asked as Naruto took another step towards them with his hands held up yo make grabbing motions.

There was a snort behind him and Naruto just knew Kiba was going to be laughing soon enough. He reached out to touch the groups leader and the teen all but fell back, a few of the followers jumping out of the way. "Just testing the theory that gay is contagious. Why don't you let me give you a kiss, see what happens." Dramatically Naruto smacked his lips at the entirety of the group and acted as if he were going to jump on them. "Better make it wet."

They took off very quickly and without looking back.

A howling cackle was heard behind Naruto and when he straightened and looked back at his friend he couldn't help but nearly fall over laughing as well. "Fuckin' underclassmen, why are they so stupid." Kiba wheezed as he finally brought himself under control.

"Yeah well, hopefully it keeps them away from me and any other gay kids. I'd rather them think gay is a cootie they can catch than go off and pick fights." Kiba gave a shrug and giggled all throughout their shopping experience. As they walked out of the shop with their goods they had to stop as another fit of laughter wracked his body. He made kissing noises as he laughed, trying to reenact the scene Naruto had put on.

The cashier rolled his eyes at Kiba and gave Naruto a smile.

* * *

"Naruto, your not still thinking about what happened are you? With those dumb kids." Naruto didn't reply, he wasn't really sure how he was expected to answer. "C'mon man, who cares. You probably won't ever see them again, their too scared you'll tongue battle them and win." Kiba smiled big at Naruto and the blonde returned it.

The smile didn't last though as the thoughts of what they said played through his mind. "They are gonna start a rumor though, it's going to spread through the school. Did you hear them? They said that Sasuke turned me gay, that means it must already be a rumor that Sasuke's gay." Naruto chewed on his lip and growled in frustration. He had tried so hard to keep that kind of information away from everyone, more for Sasuke's safety than his own.

Kiba leaned back on the bench that they were resting on after running around all day and tilted his head back. The sunlight was disappearing, they would have to go home soon for their dinners. "Hey, is it really a rumor if its true?" Naruto looked up at Kiba with a confused look, his mouth falling open slightly and then shutting. "I mean Sasuke _is_ gay, so its not really a rumor. And you, I'm not really sure but I know you aren't completely straight."

Warmth spread over Naruto's face and he looked around quickly as if in a panic. "Kiba! Shut up, oh my god." His friend snorted next to him and continued to eye him, expecting an answer. "I'm not really sure myself, now leave me alone. I told you Sakura is the only one or me so there." Naruto sniffed and tilted his head up in a joking flare.

They laughed a bit and settled back into resting against the bench, and Naruto had hoped dearly that Kiba would drop it, but his friend was an asshole. "Either way, it shouldn't bother you too much. Only the important people so far know and they all support the both of you, whatever you are." Kiba knocked shoulders with the blonde and Naruto nodded. "I'm curious though." Naruto glanced at Kiba and saw a devious look forming. "Have you seen any cute boys recently?" This asshole.

Naruto just knew that he was going to kill his friend, he swore he was gonna do it one day. "Kiba! That doesn't work, you can tell if a guy is cute and stuff whether you're gay or not."

"Yeah you can tell if a guy has a nice face, but it's the 'and stuff' that makes it gay admiration." Kiba wiggled his eyebrows at the blonde who just glared back at his stupid friend. For everything he was worth, Naruto tried to figure out why he was friends with such an asshole of a guy. "What about the guy at the store's register? Was he cute, and stuff?" Again with the eyebrows.

"I didn't pay attention." Lie. Naruto had. The cashier had smiled brightly at Naruto and it had made the blond so flustered and confused, was he being gay or friendly? The guy had dark eyes but they were soft and really short brown hair that fit his somewhat plain face fairly well. Naruto couldn't tell but he felt like the guy could have been a little shorter than him. He was attractive, but not enough for Naruto to have taken so much notice on a normal day. After dealing with that group of kids though, Naruto was feeling extremely aware of anything gay that he may do and was both avoiding it like the plague and was curious about it all at once.

"Well what about someone else in class? Sasuke?" Naruto curled his lips and made a disgusted noise. He wouldn't even go there, Sasuke would murder him for even thinking anything about him straight or gay. Kiba laughed and went back to thinking. "Well what about Gaara? You told me he just became 100% single and we know that he is gay for sure. Do you think he's cute?" Kiba seemed to cringe at his own words, Naruto wondered if Kiba and Gaara were ever going to get along.

"Kiba." Before the rest of his complaint could go through Kiba held up his hand to stop it and gave him a warning look. Naruto sighed as a sign of his defeat and actually gave the redhead's looks some thought. "He is kind of attractive I guess. I mean, he's a redhead and has that edgy look going for him, it all works I guess. I don't want to date him though, especially since he's Sasuke's best friend and ex."

"Well that's more than what I would give him for sure." Naruto rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. He wasn't pouting, _wasn't_, but felt frustrated with this conversation. "Have you ever had a crush on a boy.

That was a question Naruto could answer easily. "No." He answered truthfully.

Kiba pursed his mouth. "Have any other crushes than Sakura?" Naruto winced, the answer to that was no and Kiba knew it. "I know you aren't still stuck on her for real, so why not crush on someone else. How about Tenten?"

"Neji would kill me, fuck that."

"Why would I kill you?" Kiba and Naruto both jumped from their seats and screamed in surprise. Neji was standing by their bench breathing heavily and obviously just coming from a run but still looked graceful as he rose an eyebrow at the two in question. Naruto and Kiba exchanged panicked looks as Neji took a drink from his water bottle.

Unfortunately Naruto's mind took that time to explore its options. His classmate before him had his long brown hair swept back into a higher ponytail than he normally kept it in, revealing his thin neck. A few tendrils swept down and framed his sharp but attractive face. Neji was sweating lightly, and damn it, it made his skin glow. Has his skin always been so perfect and shiny, so white? Even his legs seemed smooth and a little effeminate. His long, long legs that were on show due to Neji's running shorts. Shorts that were definitely short. _Fuck. _Naruto forced his eyes to the ground and very muchly so away from Neji. Did he know that he was wearing such short shorts?

"Well?" Neji prompted the two. Kiba shoved at Naruto, obviously offering him up to answer. Normally Naruto was the fastest on his feet with excuses but Kiba needed to understand, he was dealing with...things, at the moment.

Licking his lips and trying to pull his eyes away from Neji's body but also avoided eye contact, Naruto tried hard to think of something. "Um, Neji." Naruto looked up at his classmate and quickly decided he really hated life. "Kiba likes Hinata!" Naruto shouted causing Neji's focused expression to widen into one of surprise.

"Dude!" Kiba threw his hands up in exasperation. "It's not a secret but do you really think yelling that at her protective cousin is going to help me any?"

Naruto mouthed sorry but then turned back to Neji when he heard the teen clear his throat. "Kiba's right, that isn't news to me. I actually thought you two were already dating. Never mind that though, I have to finish my jog. I'll see you later Naruto, and I'll kill you, Kiba, if you mess around with Hinata." Kiba gave a small nervous smile but quickly moved out of Neji's way as the brunette started a steady run past them and down the street.

It was a good looking pace as far as Naruto could tell. Kiba jumped in front of him looking completely pissed and ruining the view of Neji's nicely passed running. "Dude!"

"I panicked!"

"Dude!"

"Sorry?" Naruto tried as Kiba grabbed him by his shoulder and shook him violently.

Kiba let him go and ran a hand through his hair. "I could have been killed, did you hear him? Did you see him? He was so not ok with that information."

"I saw him." Naruto cringed inwardly as his mind echoed the double meaning back at him. "I'm sorry. I panicked and I needed a reason for him to not be looking at me anymore and it just sort of popped out. It's your fault anyways."

"Me? How is it my fault, I didn't ask you to tell Neji about Hinata!" Kiba yelled back all but pulling his hair out now.

Again Naruto felt panicked as the reality of why he had blurted it out began to sink in. "You kept asking me about guys and then Neji came and he looked different than usual and well." Naruto trailed off shutting is eyes tightly but opened them quickly when he saw the image of Neji's running form in his mind. "Damn it, Neji is pretty." He mumbled in defeat.

A quiet settled on them. Naruto kept his eyes on the ground even when Kiba huffed a sigh and moved to stand next to him. "Um." Kiba started. "Neji doesn't count. Whatever gender you like, Neji will always be pretty."

It made Naruto smile to hear Kiba sound so genuine about it. "Yeah." Kiba started to laugh. it was just a chuckle but it was contagious and soon enough Naruto burst out into a loud laughter. "Neji is an exception, I can deal with that." Naruto agreed as he wiped at his eyes. Kiba laughed lightly some more and whimpered as he held his belly.

* * *

The entire way home Naruto ran. Mostly because he was late, he told himself, but also he didn't want the time alone to think about the day. He didn't want to think about the stupid underclassmen, he didn't want to think about the possible rumors, and he definitely didn't want to think about the Neji incident. So he ran home and cut through yards until he was safe inside the house and pressed up against the door as if barricading the front door from the thoughts he left outside.

One his breathing was steadied Naruto laughed at himself. "Did I just really try to run from gay thought?" He sighed at his own sillyness and continued into the house.

When he walked through the kitchen Iruka glared at his coat-less form and pink cheeks, then huffed when Naruto gave a small smile and slipped into the living room to escape his parent's wrath. He saw Sasuke sitting on the couch playing a video game that Naruto had thought the raven didn't like.

Sasuke spotted him but turned his eyes back to the screen without much of a reaction. "Where is the save point on this level." It amused Naruto to hear the frustration in the ravens voice as he ran away from an enemy and then turned on them with open fire. When the blond walked over and held his hand out for the remote Sasuke handed it over without fuss and relaxed back into the couch cushions as the blond plopped down next to him.

Without even realizing it Naruto took over the game with Sasuke sitting next to him silently flipping through his phone and nibbling on his thumb nail. They mumble a few empty insults at each other just to fill the silence but it was comfortable like this. "Hey duckbutt?" At the nickname Naruto felt a sharp kick to his leg. "Damn." Naruto mummbled and tried to regain control of the character on the screen that the kick had lost him.

As expected Sasuke only let out a small 'hn' in question to what Naruto had wanted. "Do you think Neji is pretty?"

"That shouldn't even be a question." He answered without hesitation and continued to scroll through his phone. "Why?"

The image of Neji in his running shorts popped in Naruto's head and paused the game to shake it out of his head. That earned him a curious look from Sasuke. "I saw him today jogging with really short shorts on and his hair tied up." A smirk appeared on Sasuke's face but he only replied with a drawled out version of his normal 'hn'. Whatever that was suppose to mean. "Are you attracted to him?" Naruto felt his mouth go dry as the words left him.

Sasuke repositioned as if restless. "Naruto, everyone is attracted to Neji. Do you think they go to his parties cause they want to drink his piss beer? No." Naruto curled his lip at the mention of beer. Kiba said he liked it but there was just no way. Beer to Naruto tasted like salty dirt in liquid form.

"Yeah, too bad for you he's straight and after Tenten." Sasuke scoffed and Naruto squinted at him in suspicion. Did Sasuke know something he didn't? Before he could ask though Kakashi had called them into the kitchen. Presumably for dinner, which was good cause he was hungry and very thirsty. Maybe he shouldn't have ran so quickly.

* * *

**For as long as it's been since I've updated this should be a lot better but whatever. Here is a new chapter. It's probably going to be a long time before the next one but that one is in the making already. Tell me your thoughts or any theories you have, they are actually pretty fun to read.**


	12. It's Not Easy

**Good luck this is pretty unedited. Leave a review please.**

"So let me get this straight. You think, for whatever reason, that Neji could actually be gay in some way?" Sasuke glared at the intruder in his room who was now flopping back onto his bed so that his head hung off the side.

Blue eyes shot him with a glare before focusing back on the, no doubt, upside view of the wall in front of them. "I'm telling you, he pampers himself too much to be 100% straight."

"Naruto." Sasuke growls in warning. The blond should know better than to bring up gay stereotypes around Sasuke. The blonde scoots across the bed so that he can prop his head up with his arm and look at Sasuke properly.

For unknown reasons to the raven, Naruto had made Neji's sexuality a debate for the rest of the week and into the weekend as well, and also insisted that Sasuke was required to take part in the debate. Obviously, there was the temptation to believe that Naruto was suddenly confused about his sexuality or, Sasuke really hoped it wasn't this, it could be that Naruto is in a way homophobic and wants to know who all is gay so that he can make sure they don't do anything gay near him. It obviously wasn't the second one, Naruto of all people isn't like that, and Sasuke knew it. Even if Naruto was internally homophobic with his obsession making all gay secrets a personal thing.

The blond nudged Sasuke's leg away from his face so Sasuke moved them to rest on his friend's hip. He knew Naruto, it couldn't be that. "You know I didn't mean it like that 'Suke." Sasuke cringed at the nickname. "I just mean, I don't know, seems like it would be a shame if he wasn't. aye?" Naruto gave Sasuke a devious smirk and it made Sasuke let out a sort of relieved huff, maybe he had been worried that Naruto was becoming afraid of everything gay.

"A shame for the gay population certainly. What about you though?" The smirk on Naruto's face fell but a small hesitant smile remained and it made Sasuke wonder even more.

When Naruto finally looks up it's with a bright smile and a laugh, and it's all too fake. "Everyone has their exceptions dude, obviously Neji is everyone's. Even Kiba thinks he's pretty." Sasuke scrunches his nose but lets it drop. If Naruto doesn't want talk about it then Sasuke wasn't going to drawl it out of him.

Instead they sit in silence for a few minutes while Naruto messes with his phone and Sasuke just lays and tries to relax for a few minutes. It seems to work fairly well, he begins to drift when suddenly his feet fall from where they are and he is suddenly being manhandled with a hand on his chest and another squishing his face and turning it from side to side.

Naruto is above him with a determined face, Sasuke glares and manages to buck up and over to roll the two so that Sasuke was above and grabbing at Naruto's hands and rip them off his face. "What the hell do you think-

"Oh my god!" The blond yelled grabbing a hand full of black hair and pulling Sasuke's head back and turning it to the side. "Just hold still. There, when the fuck did that happen?" Before Sasuke could demand what the hell Naruto was talking about, a tanned hand reached out and flicked at Sasuke's ear making the teen hiss.

Sasuke tried to jerk away more but realized that with his head being pulled back and the arch in his back kept him firmly at the disadvantage in this situation. Taking in a calming breath, Sasuke moved his hand up slowly and followed Naruto's arm up to the hand in his hair. "Let go of my hair now." He hissed and grabbed Naruto's hand with a fierce twist of his own hand.

"Ow shit, sorry, sorry!" Naruto whimpered, leaning with the twist in an attempt to lessen the pain. Sasuke straightened back up and glared down at the man that he realized he was sitting in the lap of. When the blonde locked eyes with him he forgot about that detail and glared harshly at the idiot, when had they become close enough that Naruto would ever think doing something like that was acceptable.

Sasuke reached up and touched his right ear where Naruto had flicked it and felt the earrings in his ear. "Oh." Sasuke felt a shifting beneath him and saw Naruto craning to get another look at the black stud in his ear. "About two weeks ago. I got Iruka to let me get a piercing but I don't know if I'll keep it."

"What? No you didn't, I would have remembered that, is it fake?" Sasuke glared but instead of replying he lifted himself up and away from Naruto who sat up completely all curiosity and confusion as he continued to invade Sasuke's personal space. "Dude! It's real!"

"Yeah, no shit." Sasuke shoved Naruto's face away with a huff.

"I want a piercing. Wait Sasuke, how did you hide it this long?" Naruto tucked his arms behind his head, apparently completely comfortable even after starting a mini fight seconds before.

Sasuke settled down next to him trying to keep a hold of the anger he felt a few moments ago. "Just because you didn't notice doesn't mean I was hiding it." Naruto glared and nudged Sasuke's ankle with his foot. It made Sasuke smirk knowing that Naruto was just as oblivious and pouty as he was when they were younger. "I have long hair, I guess no one has noticed yet because of that. Did you only just now see it?"

Naruto sat up straight suddenly again and Sasuke flinched but calmed himself when he realized Naruto wasn't about to pounce on him again. "Uh, no actually. Gaara told me to tell you to text him back that he thinks you left a pair of earrings at his house." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto in frustration but eventually just rolled his eyes when the blond made a silly face in return.

He searched for his phone on his now destroyed bed, eventually finding it under his leg, and sure enough there were a couple messages from Gaara.

Gaara: Hey you left some earring here.

Gaara: Lee is really annoying me.

Sasuke: Then block his number.

Vaguely Sasuke could hear Naruto begin speaking but he didn't really focus on what the blond was saying as another text came in.

Gaara: I apparently broke his leg in grade school. I not only remember none of this but he has declared it the start of our friendship. Why is he like this?

Sasuke tried to think back into grade school. He did remember Lee having a cast and he remembered signing it. He didn't remember when it happened or if Gaara got in trouble for apparently doing this.

Gaara: He has asked me five times today if I've eaten yet.

Gaara: He just asked again.

"Sasuke! You weren't even paying attention!" The raven turned his head back to Naruto who was pouting, arms crossed and lower lip out. He stopped though once he got a proper look at Sasuke. "Hey what's wrong?" Naruto started to sit up to see Sasuke's texts but Sasuke turned his phone away. Again, when had they gotten so close that this was thought to be ok? "Jerk" Naruto mumbled as he laid back once more.

"Lee has apparently been texting Gaara non-stop and it's bothering him." Naruto wore a grim expression and nodded in understanding. "I'm trying to figure out why Gaara gave Lee his number anyways."

A look of realization showed on Naruto's face and then one of thought. "Actually, that's a good question."

Sasuke settled back onto the bed and stared at the white of his ceiling. He was glad Gaara was making more friends, although he worried for Lee's safety if he continued to be a bother to Gaara. It's been strange thinking of Gaara recently. Gaara was still his best friend, but sometimes Sasuke remembered the kisses and not only felt strange but wanted the kisses back. He didn't want Gaara back in that way, but now certain thoughts of Gaara lead to thoughts of kissing faceless partners.

"What if he and Lee got together. The kid with the bushiest eyebrows with the kid with no eyebrows. Holy shit please imagine that." Naruto was losing it in a fit of giggles and Sasuke smiled at the joke but he suddenly had the image of the two together. He felt like he didn't care, but also like his only chance at kisses had been taken away. He didn't feel sad about it, more frustrated than anything.

"Your phone is going crazy you need to check it. I'm gonna go play some games." Naruto rolled off the bed and stumbled towards the door. Sasuke made a small noise of acknowledgment before the blond left and grabbed his phone.

Gaara: Does this kid have an off switch?

Gaara: I feel exhausted just texting this much and he thinks I'm going to start attending a dojo with him and Neji?

Gaara: He just asked me if I knew if you were gay or not. What should I say?

Something bitter in the back of Sasuke's head told him that if Naruto had seen that message he would have immediately had a heart attack and ran across town to Lee to make him swear an oath of silence. Sasuke took a breath and tried to remember that Naruto has had to grow up with these assholes and so he knows how they react and therefore has his reasons for being especially secretive about lgbtq+ things.

Sasuke: If you think he is ok, tell him yeah I am but not to spread it.

Gaara: Lee won't tell, he's bi, told me your "youth is inspiring", I think that means he thinks your attractive, and then he immediately jumped into how important healthy meals are.

Sasuke: What energizer does his parents feed him?

It took Gaara a few more minutes to reply, which Sasuke used to feel weird that not only did Lee now know his sexual orientation but to also take in that Lee found his youth inspirational.

Gaara: Well his gaurdian is apparently worse than he is. He says his Guardian, Gai, is who he models himself after.

Sasuke: Did you actually ask him what his parents fed him?

Gaara: Was there a reason not to?

Gaara's ability to be very blunt and honest was something that made Sasuke feel close to Gaara. It felt like they were similar in some ways so that he could have someone to relate to.

Sasuke furrowed his eyes has he began to feel a heavy strain on his chest. He still somehow felt like he was suppose to have feelings for his friend. He couldn't figure out where this feeling was coming from anymore. He had never gave in to the pressure of being in a relationship like high school had tried to force on him, so why was he feeling pressured now even after things had been settled between himself and Gaara? Sometimes he blamed it on simply wanting his friend to be happy, and on the rare occasion Sasuke wondered if he did want a relationship, even if not with his friend specifically. He didn't like the idea of the latter being the cause of this feeling.

Haruno: I made a 100! ^-^

Sasuke: On what?

Haruno: On the terminology test in anatomy! I was so sure I had messed up. I even fell asleep during the testing. lol Whoopsies~

Sasuke: Congrats. I still say you didn't need to study so long for it.

Haruno: Oh yes I did. Ino beat me last time and I wasn't gonna let that happen again!

Surprisingly Sasuke found himself smirking at the conversation he was having with Sakura. When she wasn't trying so hard to get Sasuke's attention was actually pretty easy to get along with. It made Sasuke regretful of the years he spent shoving her away in such violent ways, but he also knew that she would have seen his lack of a cold shoulder as acceptance of her feelings which would have hurt her worse in the long run.

Haruno: Also you were totally right. That pink dress really did need a belt. Should tell Naruto to leave the fashion to you huh? :3

There was still this stereotyping that Sakura did that bothered Sasuke quite a bit but he tried hard to not be too upset with her. It was more than likely her way of coping and reminding herself of who Sasuke was.

Sasuke: Naruto's idea wasn't bad either. I don't really like fashion. Not all gays are into it Sakura.

While he was trying to be more understanding for the sake of not fucking things up like he was so good at doing, that didn't mean he was going to be a pushover about things either.

Haruno: Right ^^;; Sorry Sasuke.

It felt good to talk with people as compared to how bad things had gotten before and how disconnected he was from everyone. It made him feel thankful in ways, but Sasuke always had the thought in the back of his mind that it was only a moment that wouldn't go on to last very long. But for now, Sasuke would enjoy not feeling trapped and sent Sakura another message telling her she was forgiven, because saying it was ok was a lie and he wasn't going to lie.

No more than a second after he hit send, A loud ruckus of yelling erupted from the hallway causing Sasuke to jump. For a moment the teen thought it was Kakashi and Iruka again and it made him clench his teeth in worry. When he heard Naruto's muffled yelps and pleas though he figured it may not be anything too severe. In his head he imagined that Naruto had been caught drinking from the milk carton or something as he got up out of bed to go do some spying.

He heard stomping past his door and waited until an obviously furious Iruka was well past before he opened the door to see Kakashi looking rather confused. The raven waited for Kakashi to notice him and rose an eyebrow in silent inquisition. "Naruto got a piercing without asking." The words startled Sasuke.

He thought back to just the other day when Naruto had been stunned and excited to learn about Sasuke's piercings. It would make sense that Naruto would also want a piercing, but he doubted that the loyal blonde would go behind Iruka's back to get one. "Naruto actually got up the nerve to get a piercing?" Sasuke asked more out of an obligation to uphold his rude nature. As he and Kakashi cautiously approached Iruka and Naruto, Sasuke started to realize what was going on.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto who was standing next to Iruka has the parent screamed over the phone in hysterics, and turned the blond so he could search for this piercing that had caused so much trouble. There was a small metal piece around Naruto's. Sasuke remembered this being a thing in middle school. Naruto hadn't pierced his lip, the metal around his lip was just a piece of notebook wire pinching the fleshy part of the left side of Naruto's bottom lip.

Even though it was obvious that the piercing wasn't real, and if Iruka would listen, Sasuke knew he never did when he was emotional though, even Naruto was trying to tell him that it wasn't real. A devious smirk formed on Sasuke's mouth as he realized the quickest way to fix this. The raven grabbed Naruto's jaw and held him as still as he could and with his other hand jerked the piece of metal off his lip.

"Ow you ass hat!" Naruto yelled jerking his face away from the raven and half glared half pouted.

Iruka abandoned yelling at Kiba, who was probably close to tears at this point, and quickly grabbed Naruto to begin examining him. Naruto mumbled out a few words as best he could with how Iruka was squishing his face. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the idiot. He was going to give Iruka an actual heart attack one day. "Idiot." He threw the make shift ring at Naruto and turned away to go back to his room. He hadn't gotten very far when Naruto caught back up with him.

"My guess is Iruka doesn't think it looks good." Naruto said with a serious and genuinely upset face. Sasuke snorted and opened his door, leaving it open for Naruto if he wanted to come in. Naruto closed the door behind him and fiddled around with the ring until it was back around his lip and pulled out his phone to take some pictures. "I don't think it looks that bad!"

It was on the edge of Sasuke's lips to tell the other teen that it suited him but decided against it. Somehow it made Sasuke feel self-conscious to even think that. He watched Naruto by his window taking selfies and liking at the ring unconsciously as he sent the pictures to whoever. He looked away though, not caring to see Naruto licking an nibbling at the metal; It was obnoxious and would surely continue if he ever actually got the piercing.

Sasuke looked down at his phone expecting to see texts from Sakura but instead saw about twenty picture messages from Naruto. "Naruto! Stop!" He threw his smaller pillow and felt pleased as it made impact with the side of Naruto's head. The blond let out an "oof" But laughed as he picked up the pillow and then jumped on the bed. After the bed stopped shaking and Sasuke wasn't in danger of toppling over due to Naruto's bouncing around to get comfortable.

"Are you quite finished?" Naruto wiggled a bit more and settled in, laying on his back with his phone on his chest and his arms behind his head. Sasuke glared and Naruto closed his eyes and let a peaceful smile form on his face. The sight made Sasuke roll his eyes but he had long gotten use to this type of behavior from Naruto.

He went through the pictures Naruto sent him and grimaced when he saw a selfie with himself in the background. Naruto was smiling with his tongue out and to the side, looking stupid. "It doesn't look bad though." Sasuke mumbled to himself.

"Thanks!" Naruto answered loudly, grinning and biting at the metal still in on his lip. Sasuke glared at the action but went back to his phone and the unending photos the blonde sent of him.

Gaara: Did Naruto get a lip ring?

Sasuke rose his brows and looked over at Naruto, who was looking like he could be falling asleep, he rose his brows. How many people had he sent those photos to?

Sasuke: Not a real one. Did he bombard you with photos?

Gaara: No just one. Naruto is kind of attractive.

Sasuke: No he isn't. Please tell me you don't have the hots for Naruto of all people.

Gaara: Just saying he looks cute with the ring.

Sasuke: If you say so.

"Gaara's a fan of the lip ring." Sasuke withheld the sneer that was beginning to curl his lip at the thought of Gaara finding anything about Naruto attractive. The blond snorted but gave a thumbs up and actually opened his eyes. He seemed thoughtful, and it made Sasuke wonder if he and Gaara ever had a chance of being together. Was that what Naruto was thinking about while he nibbled the metal?

Those thoughtful blue eyes shifted to look at Sasuke who didn't even react to the possibility of being caught staring at Naruto. "Hey, I did some thinking and I think your right." A smirk automatically formed on Sasuke's face just at those words. he didn't know what he was right about but he was going to be sure to rub whatever it was in Naruto's face. "I think Neji really is straight."

Sasuke's grin fell and instead he rolled his eyes and pursed his lips. "Naruto, why are you so invested in this?" The blonde did his usual grin and shrug. "Alright fine, why do you think straight?"

Naruto turned his body to lay on his side and propped his head up. "All the pictures with him and others he's either looking at the camera or at Tenten." Naruto narrowed his eyes and frowned as if this were serious conspiracy. Sasuke could tell Naruto was waiting for his response, and Sasuke was wanting to see Naruto squirm a bit. He just didn't know if agreeing or making up proof to go against Neji being straight would do that.

"It makes sense. He and Tenten have basically been an item since the fifth grade after all." Naruto's eyes widened as if Sasuke's words were the cold hard facts itself, and he almost seemed a little disappointed. "But, just because he's in love with his girlfriend, doesn't mean he isn't bisexual or something." Naruto looked at him with confusion but then looked away to chew on his lip and the metal ring. Sasuke watched him with a feeling close to what he would call nauseating. His stomach was churning anyways.

"Maybe." Naruto mused as he flopped back onto his back and brought his phone up to examine.

It was obvious that Naruto had a crush on Neji, or at the very least Neji had awoken some question of sexuality in Naruto. The way Naruto felt the need to talk about it constantly made Sasuke wonder if Naruto was actually planning on asking Neji out or something. If so Sasuke wondered if he should stop giving the blond hope of Neji being anything other than Tenten-sexual. Sasuke opened his mouth to do just that when Naruto laughed and started speaking himself.

"Gaara literally told me the piercing made me look attractive. I mean so did Lee, but I feel like it means more coming from someone who actually likes my gender." Naruto continued to grin at his phone and it made Sasuke feel weird. Was the sudden angry feeling towards Gaara for hitting on Naruto, or was it at Naruto for making light of his friend's advances. Maybe it was both?

There was also the thing with Lee, was that Sasuke's place to tell Naruto? Sasuke knew Naruto wouldn't tell so he nudged Naruto with his foot and waited for him to look back up. "Lee is bisexual." Again Naruto's eyes widened.

"How did he find out?" Sasuke turned his head slightly and felt shocked. "How did he figure out he was bi?" Naruto sat up and looked like Sasuke was the answer to cancer. He was so focused and ready to accept anything Sasuke said.

"I don't know. Probably the same way all people figure out who they like." Naruto furrowed his brows and looked confused. "He probably saw a boy and thought 'Wow I'm gay and would date you' and then saw a girl and thought 'Wow I could also date you' and that alone is enough to at least say your bisexual."

Naruto stared for a few seconds but then started to laugh softly and without much feeling. He smiled down at his phone. "It's that easy is it?"

Somehow Sasuke felt like he didn't have the answer Naruto wanted. He put his hand on Naruto's but then removed it when Naruto looked up at him. "Not for everyone." Hope filled Naruto's blue eyes and it made Sasuke feel on spot once more. He took a breath and tried to help as much as he thought he could. "Some people are more open minded and think they are gay but through physical experience realize they aren't. Sometimes someone can like both genders but prefer one or the other. It's a different experience for everyone."

"What about with you?" Naruto asked immediately.

Just like that Sasuke felt himself freeze up. He was willing to talk about this stuff as much as Naruto needed but he wasn't sure how much he wanted to explain with personal experience. Naruto was staring at him and he felt compelled to share, at least a little. "I just have never really liked girls. I've never been excited to be close to or date them, anyone really. When I think about dating though, it seems right to imagine myself with a man."

Naruto nodded with a determined look in his eyes. "So you didn't see a dick and think 'I'm gay.' Cause I kinda figured something like that happened."

"Dumbass!" Sasuke swung his pillow at Naruto who ducked with a grin on his face. "Why the hell would you think that!"

Naruto shrugged and Sasuke wanted to slug him. "You just don't seem like the type of person that would really worry about it unless presented with an image you found, enticing." Naruto finished with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shoved at him but Naruto managed to absorb some of the shove and laughed loudly. "Is that what happened to you? Neji too enticing?" Sasuke regretted his words as soon as a frown took the place of the smile that had previously been on Naruto's face.

"I'm not, I don't think."

"Naruto. I think you have some internalized homophobia." Naruto sat up straighter and glared at Sasuke. Something he hadn't seen in a little while. "If it's because of the kids at school, fuck them."

"Sasuke. We live in an area where there are more phobics than supporters." Sasuke nodded but still didn't see why Naruto was struggling so much with himself when the say of the school had little to do with his past decisions. Especially if he kept it secret or only among those that he trusted. "Iruka use to get threats from parents. Almost lost his job."

Sasuke nodded, understanding Naruto's fear. He still couldn't bring himself to feel or relate to Naruto letting this fear dictate his sexuality of all things. Sasuke could see that while Naruto definitely liked Sakura, he had taken notice in other boys as well. "Naruto, I think you like boys to."

"I-I Don't think." Naruto trailed off at that. Still glaring but his eyes would cloud in thought. "Stop Sasuke."

"Stop what? Telling you what you use to be able to do yourself. When we were younger you use to clearly state that you didn't care if you liked boys."

"I don't like boys!"

"No of course you dont. That's why you've been so invested in Neji after seeing his legs in some shorty shorts."

"Sasuke stop! I can't."

"You can Naruto, it's not going to kill you to like boys, it's not going to kill you to like boys and girls. You don't have to tell anyone, but you need to work on that homophobia you have going on there."

"I'm not homophobic." Naruto narrowed his eyes further and growled out his words dangerously.

Sasuke sighed and looked down at his phone. "Then you won't be bothered in the slightest if I come out to the whole school." Naruto stiffened and his eyes widened. He didn't say anything but the look on his face was enough. Naruto feared being bullied for who his family loved, he was afraid of going back to not having any friends like when he was younger, and worst of all he was afraid of being something he couldn't help in case he caused the attacks himself. Sasuke didn't know how to deal with that. Naruto cared so much that he was keeping himself from addressing his own sexuality and was forcing those around him to hide theirs.

"Will you really?" Sasuke thought about that soft question. He was a little afraid himself. People had started to dislike him more and more as high school went on. On one hand, why not piss off the entire school just for the hell of it? On the other hand, how much backlash would be aimed at Naruto or Gaara? "Sasuke."

"And what if I do?" Sasuke asked in challenge. He wasn't entirely sure if he would go through with his threat, but he wasn't going to let Naruto decide it for him.

The blonde had a grim look on his face and looked down for a moment but then looked up with a bitter grimace. "It may not matter. I've heard some lower classmen saying you turned me gay. It may be a matter of time before people hear the rumour and start to blow it out of proportion." Sasuke rose his eyebrows in genuine surprise. "But if you did become loud and proud, I would be pissed but I would get over it."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Part of Sasuke had assumed Naruto would spew on about not knowing why rumours are started, purposefully ignoring the real topic Sasuke was asking about. Instead though Naruto straightened but sighed. "Because I'm tired of people bullying people just because their different. I've dealt with it forever and don't want to deal with it anymore."

After letting that bit of truth set in, Sasuke took a deep breath. "Naruto." Sasuke leaned forward a bit and saw Naruto's angry face fade into one of curiosity. "That's the dumbest fucking thing I have ever heard come out of your mouth."

Naruto threw his hands up in frustration and glared harshly back at the raven. "Sasuke, what the fuck! Why!"

"Because. Naruto, you have never changed for anyone, never hid who you were, no matter who the fuck it annoyed. Why are you suddenly starting now? That goes against the Naruto Uzumaki way and it's so stupid." Sasuke felt himself heaving from his rant and felt breathless at the stunned and vulnerable look Naruto was giving him.

A few realizations struck Sasuke in that moment as the two stared at each other with piercing silence between them. He realized what it was that had been annoying about Naruto's fear, it was because it was so un-Naruto. And he also realized that he had grown to appreciate that characteristic of the blond. His ability to never hide who he was and always be unapologetically him despite any expectations.

"It's not that easy." The words were said quietly. It took Sasuke a second to realize that, yes, Naruto had been the one to say them. He still stared Sasuke down with a surprised look but he no longer looked vulnerable.

Despite this being a moment, despite the decision Sasuke had made to stop messing up moments like these, Sasuke was speaking words he knew would rile Naruto up. "Not easy to be you? Or not easy to accept that you would jump Neji in a second if he even so much as looked in your direction?"

"Wha- No! That's just, why would." Naruto blubbered until his voice broke. Sasuke had to bite down on his lip to keep from bursting into laughter as Naruto turned a bright red. Naruto fisted the blankets he was sitting on and looked somewhere between angry and ready crawl under the house.

Finally, Naruto huffed and looked down into his lap. Sasuke was worried that Naruto was going to cry or something equally as dramatic. When he saw Naruto shake his head and then his shoulders began to shake Sasuke immediately felt an apology on his lips. The last he needed was Iruka to hear about him making Naruto cry. Just as he had reached out for the blond, Naruto burst out into loud fits of laughter. His face was red, and it did look like his eyes were a bit red, but he looked genuinely amused.

"Sasuke, you're an asshole." Sasuke nodded in agreement. He knew he was an asshole. That didn't explain why Naruto was smiling down at his hands still clutched tightly in the blankets though.

Slowly Naruto released the covers and moved his hands to sit in his lap. The shape of his fists still imprinted in the covers. Naruto looked up at the wall past Sasuke and it made the hair on the back of Sasuke's neck stand up. "It's not that easy. I'm not afraid of attraction. I'm not afraid." Naruto narrowed his eyes but still wasn't looking at Sasuke and it bothered him. "I just want to keep the friends I have, I want to keep the good standing I have with everyone."

Naruto sounded like he was repeating a list straight off of a paper. Sasuke leaned forward and grabbed Naruto's face and forced him to meet eyes with him. "Say it again." Sasuke released his grip on Naruto.

"I'm not afraid of being gay Sasuke." Naruto was very clear and confident as he spoke, never losing eye contact.

The raven nodded his understanding. "You're afraid of what happens when people find out that you are gay though aren't you?"

"Not people. Just the ones that will bother me about it." Naruto's jaw tensed.

Sasuke sat back. Naruto mimicked the movement and flicked his eyes from Sasuke's face and away. "You're still a dumbass." Naruto snorted and nodded. "I bet Neji gets confessed to by guys all the time." Naruto nodded again.

It went silent for a few moments, Sasuke figured he had pissed off Naruto well enough that the blond would eventually either get up and leave or throw a tantrum any minute. "I bet he just says 'k thanks' and walks away to find Tenten." Naruto smirked up at Sasuke and grinned at the blond. "Imagine if Tenten wasn't around though. Would he just have a date for ever day of the week?"

"He'd probably just ignore them. If Tenten wasn't there he would have no romantic drive." To Sasuke it made sense that Neji only felt emotion around Tenten and was probably just an impassive robot when she wasn't around, but Naruto looked affronted at the very idea. "Your face will get stuck like that."

Naruto shit his mouth and furrowed his brows. "What makes you think he wouldn't want anyone? He's so preoccupied with Tenten that he probably can't even see anyone else." Naruto was sticking out his lower lip in a pout that Sasuke has become use to seeing when Sasuke has ripped away any kind of hope that Neji could be gay.

Rolling his eyes Sasuke picked up his phone and shifted to relax more into the bed. "That's the point Naru. He has only ever had eyes for Tenten. Even when she went to homeschooling for a few months so she could travel with her parents. He never faltered from her even once. Even if you took Tenten away, Neji is only romantically interested in her." Naruto nodded and then flopped back onto the bed.

"Ok I give. Neji is straight for Tenten. She wins." Naruto scratched at his belly and sighed loudly.

'She wins.' is what Naruto had said. Had Naruto really been gauging if he could have competed with her. Sasuke almost wanted to laugh at that thought. Surely Naruto wasn't that dumb. "Naruto, your gay."

"I'm not gay." Sasuke snapped his head down to give Naruto a look, one eyebrow raised. Naruto couldn't see the look but must have been able to feel it. "Leave it alone Sasuke. One step at a time."

Sasuke closed his eyes and accepted that he really was going to leave it alone. "Dumbass."

The bed shifted and Sasuke opened his eyes to find Naruto glaring down at him. "Stop calling me that."

"Dumbass."

"Sasuke!" Naruto probably meant for it to be warning, but to Sasuke it sounded whiny and added a sort of need to continue it.

"Dumbass."


End file.
